LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 


THE    CATHEDRAL    TOWER,    CREMONA 


LOMBARD  TOWNS 
OF  ITALY 

OR 

The  Cities  of  Ancient  Lombardy 


BY 

EGERTON  R.  WILLIAMS,  Jr. 

Author  of  "Hill-Towns  of  Italy,"  "Plain- 
Towns  of  Italy,"  "Ridolfo,"  etc. 


WITH  ILLUSTRATIONS 


NEW  YORK 

DODD,  MEAD  AND  COMPANY 

1914 


Copyright,  1914 
By  EGERTON  R.  WILLIAMS,  Jr. 


TO 

HARRY  MATURIN  BALLOU 

THIS    WORK    IS   DEDICATED   AS    A    SLIGHT   TOKEN 
OF  MY  AFFECTION   AND  ESTEEM 


25 


PREFACE 

This  volume  completes  the  trilogy  which  I  set  myself,  more 
than  ten  years  ago,  to  write  upon  the  most  interesting  cities 
and  towns  of  Italy  outside  of  the  half-dozen  commonly  visited 
by  travellers  in  making  the  "  grand  tour  " :  a  task  inspired 
by  the  desire  to  bring  to  a  more  intimate  knowledge  of  Anglo- 
Saxon  readers  the  countless  beauties  and  delights  —  natural, 
historic  and  artistic  —  of  the  most  important  of  those  hun- 
dreds of  wonderful  places  in  the  peninsula  which  had  there- 
tofore escaped  the  attention  of  the  general  voyageur.  Thus 
was  born  the  "  Hill  Towns  of  Italy,"  describing  the  cities  of 
the  Apennines,  north  of  Rome,  from  sea  to  sea;  there  fol- 
lowed the  "  Plain-Towns  of  Italy,"  covering  the  second  most 
interesting  region  of  the  kingdom, —  Venetia ;  but  if  I  charac- 
terise the  district  portrayed  in  this  final  volume  —  Lombardy 
—  as  only  third  in  interest  and  fascination,  I  shall  be  met 
with  a  chorus  of  objections  demanding  for  it  the  first  or  the 
second  place.  The  truth  is,  as  I  have  found,  that  there  can 
be  no  real  rank  amongst  those  three  most  alluring  provinces 
of  "  that  Enchanted  Land,  whose  beauty  is  inexhaustible,  and 
whose  boundless  interests  touch,  and  will  always  touch,  men 
and  women  who  perceive  the  deepest  concerns  of  the  human 
soul."  * 

When  we  come  to  the  cities  of  Lombardy,  nevertheless, 
we  should  stop  to  remember  that  —  aside  from  all  those  de- 
lights of  artistic  beauty  and  historical  association  which  are 
common  to  the  whole  three  regions  —  they  have  exercised 
upon  the  progress  of  civilisation  an  influence  so  unique  and 

i  W.  R.  Thayer;  in  his  "  Italica." 

vii 


viii  PREFACE 

profound  that  its  impress  is  still  visible  upon  our  modern 
institutions;  an  influence  which  was  so  prominent  a  factor  in 
the  making  of  those  institutions  that  it  should  be  carefully 
noted  in  advance  by  every  traveller  and  student. 

The  cause  of  the  deviation  made  by  these  towns  in  the 
current  of  history,  of  their  marked  acceleration  of  the  prog- 
ress of  mankind,  was  the  descent  from  the  north  of  that  re- 
markable Teutonic  race,  the  Lombards,  to  impose  upon  the 
petrifying  Roman  customs  their  own  free  and  untrammelled 
ideas  of  life.  As  Lord  Lindsay  put  it :  "  The  freedom  of 
the  North,  the  civilisation  of  the  South,  and  the  Christianity 
of  the  East,  are  the  three  elements  from  the  commixture  of 
which  the  character  and  history  of  Europe  spring;  and  Italy 
was  the  field  where  these  elements  first  met,  and  began  to 
amalgamate.  The  invasion  of  the  Lombards,  in  568,  may 
be  considered  as  the  preliminary  step  to  this  consummation. 
They  were  a  noble  race,  of  pure  morals,  and  a  bold,  manly„ 
generous,  and  even  romantic  character ;  presenting  the  strong- 
est possible  contrast  to  the  corrupt  and  degenerate  Romans,, 
whom  they  held  in  utter  contempt."  2 

The  Lombards  were  not,  therefore,  the  quite  wild  and 
savage  people  that  they  are  often  represented  to  be,  but  a 
nation  sufficiently  developed  to  have  attained  that  extraordi- 
nary individuality  which  was  the  first  to  resist  the  influences 
of  ancient  Rome,  and  to  force  upon  her  immemorial  systems 
their  own  ideals  of  government,  art,  and  living.  Here  was 
the  first  assertion  —  at  least  since  the  long-dead,  ancient  re- 
publics of  Greece  and  Rome  —  of  the  rights  of  the  individual 
man,  as  against  centralised,  autocratic  rule,  and  the  privileges 
of  class  and  clergy.  To  this  daring  Teutonic  race  we  owe, 
therefore,  the  beginnings  of  modern  human  liberty  and  indi- 
vidual freedom,  of  the  sanctity  of  person  and  of  property,  of 

2  Lord  Lindsay;  in  his  "Lombard  Architecture.'" 


PREFACE  ix 

decentralised,  representative,  laissez-faire  government;  — 
initiated  by  them  in  these  cities  of  north-Italy  a  hundred 
years  or  more  before  their  cousins,  the  Anglo-Saxons,  began 
a  similar  revolution  in  Roman  Britain.  The  towns  of  Lom- 
bardy,  fortunately  preserved  mostly  intact  under  the  preced- 
ing Goths, —  who  had  themselves  been  absorbed  by  the 
ponderous  ancient  Roman  system, —  thus  took  the  lead  in  the 
advancement  of  free  government  and  personal  rights,  and 
held  it  for  centuries  before  the  whole  of  Europe;  resisting 
with  heroic  valour,  as  self-governing  republics,  the  endless 
aggressions  made  upon  their  liberties  by  emperors,  popes,  and 
neighbouring  tyrants;  until  the  fiery  spirit  instilled  by  the 
Teutons  found  its  supreme  expression  in  that  glorious  Lom- 
bard League  which  annihilated  at  Legnano,  in  1 176,  the 
armed  hosts  and  the  aspirations  of  Frederick  Barbarossa. 

With  the  end  of  the  second  League  and  the  final  suppres- 
sion of  imperial  designs,  the  Lombard  cities  did  —  it  is  true, 
exhausted  by  the  long  strife  of  Guelf  and  Ghibelline  —  suc- 
cumb to  their  own  despots;  and  the  Visconti  obtained  sway, 
from  Milan  and  Pavia,  over  all  that  part  of  the  province 
which  was  not  grasped  by  the  splendid  Gonzaghi  of  Mantua: 
the  one  family  becoming  by  all  means  the  most  powerful,  and 
the  second  pre-eminently  the  most  magnificent  —  in  princely 
living,  in  culture,  and  the  use  of  the  reborn  arts  —  of  all  the 
tyrannies  that  sprang  from  Italian  soil.  But  now  there 
emerged  into  the  sunlight  the  second  fruits  of  the  northern 
towns'  absorption  of  the  Lombard  spirit,  even  more  important 
—  if  possible  —  to  the  world  at  large :  the  beginnings  of 
modern  civilisation. 

That  of  the  old  Romans,  as  modified  by  the  Lombards, 
had  been  within  their  stout  walls  safely  preserved  during 
these  centuries  of  the  Dark  Age;  some  branches  of  ancient 
art  and  science  had,  indeed,  perished, —  but  not  by  fault  of 


x  PREFACE 

the  Lombards,  under  whom  "  the  Italians  enjoyed  a  milder 
and  more  equitable  government  than  any  of  the  other  king- 
doms which  have  been  founded  on  the  ruins  of  the  Western 
Empire ;  "  3  the  citizens,  however,  zealously  keeping  alive 
what  handicrafts,  what  branches  of  art  and  the  applied 
sciences,  were  left  to  them,  reinvigorated  from  their  quon- 
dam decadence  by  the  admixture  of  the  powerful  northern 
blood,  had  striven  vigorously  and  continuously  to  improve 
their  knowledge,  to  better  their  conditions  of  life,  and  to 
beautify  their  cities.  The  same  fierce  Lombard  genius  that 
kept  them  enviously  at  war  with  each  other  during  the  gener- 
ations preceding  the  Oath  of  Pontida,  incited  each  town  to 
endeavour  to  exceed  its  rivals  in  aggrandisement;  each  was  a 
burning  centre  of  civic  life,  that  strove  to  outdo  its  neigh- 
bours in  building,  in  the  embellishment  of  its  arts,  in  the 
wealth  and  the  ostentation  derived  from  its  handicrafts  and 
its  knowledge  of  the  sciences. 

When  we  stop  to  think  that  in  these  cities  of  northern 
Italy,  during  all  that  terrible  Middle  Age,  remained  prac- 
tically the  only  salvation  from  the  feudalism  which  was  de- 
stroying culture  everywhere  else  in  Europe, —  reducing  human 
life  to  a  system  of  wild  country  serfs  dependent  upon  savage 
baronial  castles, —  we  realize  how  infinitely  we  are  indebted 
to  them  for  the  preservation,  first,  and  later  the  renovation, 
of  civilised  existence. 

To  this  period  we  owe  the  many  superb  examples  offered 
us  by  the  cities  of  the  plain  of  the  so-called  Lombard- 
Romanesque  architecture,  civic  and  ecclesiastical, —  which  was 
the  result  of  the  Lombard  art  superimposed  upon  and  alter- 
ing the  decadent  Roman.  Although  the  Lombard  dynasty 
ceased  to  rule  toward  the  end  of  the  eighth  century,  upon 
the  coming  of  Charlemagne,  the  art  of  its  people  —  by  then 

3  Gibbon. 


PREFACE  xi 

thoroughly  mixed  with,  and  predominant  amongst,  the  old 
Romans  —  continued  to  rule  until  the  trecento.  The  Lom- 
bards, in  spite  of  their  addiction  to  country-life,  were  power- 
ful builders,  and  changed  the  features  of  the  dying  Roman 
architecture  in  accordance  with  their  temperament.  Above 
all  —  and  this  is  our  chief  debt  to  them  in  the  realms  both 
of  art  and  of  religion  —  they  revolutionised  the  form  of  the 
Christian  church ;  shaping  it  into  the  beautiful  edifice  that 
still  symbolises  to  us  the  tenets  and  the  traditions  of  our  faith. 

Such  a  daring  metamorphosis  of  the  long-established  Cath- 
olic forms  and  prejudices  was  only  to  be  expected  from  those 
remarkable  men  who  first  insisted  upon  entire  freedom  from 
churchly  rule  and  clerical  privileges.  "  Whatever  merit  " — 
said  Gibbon  — "  may  be  discovered  in  the  laws  of  the  Lom- 
bards, they  are  the  genuine  fruit  of  the  reason  of  the  Bar- 
barians [precisely  as  was  the  common-law  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxons],  who  never  admitted  the  bishops  of  Italy  to  a  seat 
in  their  legislative  councils."  The  Lombards-  altered  the 
early  Roman  church, —  naught,  as  all  know,  but  an  adapta- 
tion of  the  heathen  basilica  to  the  uses  of  Christian  worship, 
—  into  our  present  and  millennium-old  type  of  cathedral, 
with  its  entrance-porches,  aisles,  upper-galleries,  clerestory- 
windows,  side-chapels,  transepts,  apse,  and  surmounting  dome. 
They  also  introduced  the  use  of  bells,  and  the  bell-tower. 
The  finest  remaining  example  of  their  earlier  churches  still 
fortunately  remains  in  excellent  condition, —  S.  Michele  of 
Pavia. 

To  all  of  the  cities  of  the  old  Lombard  kingdom, —  seeth- 
ing, as  they  had  been  so  long,  in  the  envious  strife  not  only 
of  arms  but  of  material  and  artistic  aggrandisement, —  there 
needed  but  the  advent  of  the  trecento  artists  from  Tuscany 
and  from  the  slowly  dying  Byzantium  to  kindle  the  fire  of 
the    Renaissance,    whose    fuel    had    been    thus    preparing. 


xii  PREFACE 

From  Padua  to  Pavia,  the  blaze  burst  forth  with  quick  in- 
tensity. Although  the  towns  of  that  section  of  the  realm 
which  came  subsequently  under  Venetian  sway  and  are  hence 
now  called  Venetia,  were  foremost  in  leading  the  early  Re- 
naissance, the  latter  attained  its  splendid  perihelion  in  the 
more  western  region  covered  by  this  volume:  at  Lodi,  for 
instance,  with  its  beautiful  Incoronata,  at  Mantua,  with  its 
marvellous  Reggia,  and  at  Pavia  with  its  incomparable 
Certosa,  probably  the  supreme  monument  of  the  Renaissance. 
Western  Lombardy  possesses  also  an  unparalleled  work  of 
the  earlier  period,  in  those  masterpieces  of  painting  which 
Masolino  of  Florence,  the  inaugurator  and  teacher  of  the 
more  highly  developed  schools  of  the  quattrocento,  laid  upon 
the  walls  of  the  Collegiate  church  and  baptistery  of  Cas- 
tiglione  Olona.  And  at  Saronno,  near-by,  we  behold  the 
crowning  works  of  the  most  beautiful  school  of  the  cinque- 
cento, —  Leonardo  da  Vinci's, —  in  the  magnificent  frescoes 
of  Luini  and.  Gaudenzio  Ferrari. 

That  the  rebirth  and  high  development  of  arts  and  civilisa- 
tion occurred  in  the  towns  of  Lombardy  during  the  three 
centuries  subsequent  to  their  submission  to  local  despotisms, 
shows  not  only  how  much  their  energies  were  then  turned 
in  that  direction,  but  also  how  beneficent  were  those  despo- 
tisms in  their  effect  upon  the  masses,  and  in  their  paternal 
encouragement  of  all  the  best  in  art.  The  same  jealousies 
that  had  kept  the  communes  at  fraternal  strife,  now  incited 
their  tyrants  to  exceed  each  other  in  the  display  of  dilet- 
tanteism  and  in  a  cultured  magnificence  of  life  and  surround- 
ings. We  cannot  be  too  thankful  that  at  precisely  this 
period  of  Italian  history  the  revenues  of  many  cities  were 
placed  in  a  few  princely  hands,  able  to  disburse  them  without 
question.  Thus  only  could  the  Visconti  and  the  Sforza  have 
raised  the  Cathedral  of  Milan  and  the  Certosa  of  Pavia,  and 


PREFACE  xiii 

the  Gonzaghi  have  erected  that  stupendous  pile  known  as 
the  Reggia;  thus  only  could  Mantegna  and  Giulio  Romano 
have  flourished  at  Mantua  with  their  numerous  pupils,  Isa- 
bella d'Este  have  adorned  her  enchanted  Grotta  and  Paradiso, 
and  Leonardo  have  formed  under  the  patronage  of  the  Moro 
that  glorious  school  which  gave  us  Luini,  Ferrari,  Borgo- 
gnone,  and  many  others. 

Of  these  three  great  despotisms  which  possessed  Lombardy 
proper  during  the  Renaissance,  and  which  so  remarkably  ad- 
vanced the  artistic  progress  of  mankind,  the  two  of  Milan, 
owing  to  their  greed  of  territory,  perished  successively  amidst 
a  rain  of  blood,  leaving  their  dominions  to  the  desolating  rule 
of  Spaniards  and  Jesuits  for  two  hundred  years;  only  the 
Gonzaghi  had  sufficient  wisdom  to  weather  the  storms  of 
the  early  cinquecento,  and  continue  their  benign  rule  over  the 
Duchy  of  Mantua  till  the  extinction  of  the  family-line.  In 
which  feat  of  political  equilibration  an  important  part  was 
played  by  that  paragon  of  womankind,  "  the  ideal  woman  of 
the  Renaissance," — Isabella  d'Este;  whose  sagacity  in  affairs 
of  state  was  only  paralleled  by  her  remarkable  ascendancy 
over  the  leading  artists,  litterateurs  and  dilettantes  of  that 
extraordinary  epoch.  Thus  was  Raphael's  pupil  Romano 
able  to  complete  his  decoration  of  the  Reggia,  and  construct 
that  amazing  Palazzo  del  Te  which  still  fortunately  remains 
to  us  intact, —  the  ideal  princely  villa  of  the  Renaissance. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  add,  in  concluding,  that  Milan  was 
omitted  from  the  list  of  cities  herein  described  (as  was  Venice 
from  the  "Plain-Towns  of  Italy"),  not  only  because  it 
would  require  a  volume  in  itself,  but  because  this  work  is 
intended  precisely  to  cover  all  the  other  towns  of  Lombardy :  4 

4  The  town  of  Como,  however,  was  also  omitted,  because  it  be- 
longs to  that  mountainous  region  of  the  great  lakes  which  is 
quite  extraneous  from  Lombardy  proper. 


xiv  PREFACE 

in  the  hope  that  it  may  both  be  of  some  aid  to  travellers, 
beyond  the  restricted  limits  of  the  "  Baedeker,"  and  also 
enable  those  who  do  not  travel  to  glean  a  little  of  the  Lom- 
bard beauties  from  my  pages.  With  the  same  desire  to  help 
those  who  may  follow  me,  I  have  taken  pains,  as  heretofore, 
to  give  the  names  and  qualities  of  those  inns  which  I  found 
by  personal  experience  to  be  what  a  traveller  in  that  province 
can  best  expect,  with  regard  to  cleanliness,  proper  prices, 
and  a  good  Italian  table. 

February  i,  1914.  E.  R.  W. 


CONTENTS 

I.  Bergamo  the  Lower i 

II.  Bergamo  the  Upper 35 

III.  Monza  and  the  Iron  Crown 73 

IV.  Saronno  and  Varese no 

V.  Castiglione   Olona,   Legnano,  and  Busto 

Arsizio 149 

VI.  The  Marvellous  Certosa  di  Pavia  .      .      .188 

VII.   Pavia  the  Primeval 220 

VIII.   Pavia  the  Pious 248 

IX.   Lodi  and  Crema 281 

X.   Cremona  the  Contentious 324 

XL  Cremona  the  Captivating 357 

XII.   Mantova  la  Gloriosa 400 

XIII.  Mantua  the  Magnificent 446 

XIV.  The  Palazzo  del  Te,  Sabbioneta,  and  En- 

virons of  Mantua 520 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

The  Cathedral  Tower,  Cremona  ....     Frontispiece 

FACING 
PAGE 

Map      c xix 

The  Porch  of  S.  Maria  Maggiore,  Bergamo    ...  40 

The    Cathedral   of   Monza 106 

The  Certosa  of  Pavia,  Viewed  from  the  Small  Cloister  202 

The  Monument  of  Lodovico  Sforza  and  Beatrice  d'Este. 

The  Certosa  di   Pavia 234 

The  Monument  of  Gian  Galeazzo  Visconti.     The  Cer- 
tosa di  Pavia 266 

The  Cathedral  of  Cremona 334 

The    Family   of   the   Gonzaghi.     Mantegna's    Famous 

Fresco  in  the  Sala  degli  Sposi,  Mantua   .      .      .   470 

The  publishers  acknowledge  the  courtesy  of  Alinari  Fratelli,  of 
Florence,  Italy,  for  the  use  of  the  illustrations  in  this  volume. 


1 


CHAPTER  I 

BERGAMO  THE  LOWER 

"  Far  to  the  right  where  Apennine  ascends 
Bright  as  the  summer  Italy  extends ; 
Its  uplands  sloping  deck  the  mountain's  side 
Woods  over  woods  in  gay,  theatric  pride; 
While  oft  some  temple's  mould'ring  top  between 
With  venerable  grandeur  marks  the  scene." 

Goldsmith's  "  Traveller." 

As  "  Apennine  "  may  be  said  to  signify  "  little  Alp,"  these 
words  of  the  poet  well  apply  to  Bergamo  and  her  neighbour- 
ing scenery;  for,  though  now  a  plain-town,  the  original 
little  burg  still  perches  high  upon  her  wooded  foot-hill,  lift- 
ing above  trees  and  battlements  the  mouldering  roofs  of  her 
grand  old  Christian  temples.  She  is,  then,  a  bifold  city, — 
with  a  strange,  bifarious  personality.  To  the  modern  Italian 
Bergamo  means  the  recent,  wide-spread  boroughs  on  the 
plain,  vomiting  black  smoke  from  scores  of  factories,  hum- 
ming with  industrial  life ;  to  the  traveller  and  the  aesthetic  it 
means  that  ancient  picturesque  hilltop, —  on  which  Manzoni 
placed  some  scenes  of  the  "  Promessi  Sposi  " —  and  the  won- 
drous productions  of  its  great,  bygone  artists,  which  are 
amongst  the  most  purely  beautiful  of  all  the  schools.  As 
Verona  attained  the  supreme  development  of  gorgeous  colour- 
ing, so  did  Bergamo  reach  the  nadir  of  ideal,  perfect  loveli- 
ness. At  her  name  there  rise  before  us  a  crowd  of  painted 
forms  of  such  ineffable  beauty,  that  they  could  come  only 
from  the  opened  vault  of  paradise,  with  a  burst  of  celestial 
music.     To  three  sublime  painters  this  glory   of   Bergamo 

i 


2  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

is  due, —  Jacopo  Palma,  "  il  Vecchio,"  Lorenzo  Lotto,  and 
Andrea  Previtali.1 

Bergamo,  though  strictly  a  Lombard  town,  both  in  situa- 
tion and  affiliation,  was  the  fourth  of  the  subject  Venetian 
cities  that  sat  at  the  foot  of  the  Alps,  curiously  equidistant 
from  each  other,  along  the  northern  edge  of  the  plain.  As 
Brescia  lies  midway  between  Lakes  Garda  and  Iseo,  so  Ber- 
gamo, farther  to  the  northwest,  sits  midway  between  Lakes 
Iseo  and  Como,  just  at  the  converging  mouths  of  two  charm- 
ing Alpine  valleys, —  the  Val  Seriana  and  Val  Brembana. 
At  the  head  of  the  latter  its  highway  from  Bergamo  crosses 
an  easy  pass  to  the  spacious  Valtellina,  so  long  renowned  for 
its  wine;  whose  road  in  turn,  by  the  famous  Ortler  Pass, 
reaches  German  lands. 

Two  other  routes  from  Bergamo,  slightly  longer  but  of 
more  level  grade,  have  also  for  many  centuries  led  travellers 
to  the  Valtellina  and  the  north ;  one  up  Lake  Como  on  the 
west,  to  the  end  of  the  valley,  the  other  by  Lago  d'Iseo  to  its 
eastern  confines.  By  Lake  Como  and  the  Val  Brembana, 
trade  also  crossed  the  Engadine,  and  the  Splugen  Pass  to 
Switzerland.  So  Bergamo  was  favourably  situated  of  old ; 
yet  she  seems  never  to  have  possessed  then  a  population  of  the 
present  size, — •  about  50,000.  Her  restriction  to  the  narrow 
hilltop  was  a  drawback  to  growth ;  and  she  was  perhaps  too 
near  the  metropolis  of  Milan, —  which  lies  no  farther  to  the 
southwest  than  Brescia  does  to  the  southeast. 

Bergamo  was  certainly  too  unimportant  in  Roman  days 

1  Lotto,  according  to  Corrado  Ricci,  was  born  at  Venice;  but 
Palma,  Previtali,  Cariani,  Moroni,  Girolamo  da  Santa  Croce,  Tal- 
pino,  Bissolo  and  several  other  prominent  masters,  were  all  born 
either  in  Bergamo  or  in  its  environs;  and  after  wandering  away  — 
mostly  to  Venice  —  to  receive  their  artistic  training,  returned  to 
combine  their  ideas  in  the  brilliant  school  famed  for  "  the  purity 
of  its  traditions." 


BERGAMO  THE  LOWER  3 

to  attract  the  attention  of  historians.  We  know  that  she 
was  a  Roman  municipium,  but  few  mentions  of  her  descend 
to  us  from  ancient  annals ;  —  a  fortunate  people,  indeed. 
About  the  nearest  that  she  came  to  being  embroiled  in  im- 
perial troubles  was  on  the  occasion  of  the  rebellion  of  Aure- 
olus,  in  268,  against  the  Emperor  Gallienus;  their  decisive 
battle,  which  routed  the  insurgent,  was  fought  only  13  miles 
away,  at  a  bridge  over  the  Adda,  known  ever  since  as  Pons 
Aureoli  —  which  has  been  corrupted  into  Pontirolo.  The 
Adda  is  next  the  Adige  in  size,  and  surpasses  the  Mincio  in 
strategic  importance,  being  the  outlet  of  Lake  Como,  and 
dividing  the  plain  with  an  unfordable  current ;  it  formed  the 
ultimate  border  of  Venetian  territory;  and  when  Napoleon 
came  to  destroy  the  Republic,  it  was  at  another  bridge  over 
this  stream  that  he  fought  a  critical  battle, —  the  battle  of 
Lodi, —  so  critical,  indeed,  that  he  was  obliged,  it  is  often 
said,  to  lead  his  troops  in  person,  to  gain  the  passage.  I 
have  often  pondered  over  the  different  course  that  history 
would  have  taken,  if  the  Conqueror  had  that  hour  fallen  slain 
into  the  Adda. 

Among  the  saintly  legends  descending  to  us  from  imperial 
times  is  that  of  St.  Grata,  who  about  300  "  was  the  daughter 
of  St.  Lupo,  Duke  of  Bergamo,  and  St.  Adelaide,  both  of 
whom  she  converted  to  the  faith.  When  St.  Alexander,  one 
of  the  Theban  Legion,  suffered  martyrdom,  she  herself 
wrapped  the  head  in  fine  linen  and  reverently  buried  his  body. 
On  the  death  of  her  father,  St.  Grata  succeeded  him,  and 
governed  her  people  well,  setting  them  an  example  of  good 
works.  She  built  churches  and  hospitals,  and  did  all  in  her 
power  to  further  the  spread  of  Christianity.  She  died  at 
length  in  peace  and  prosperity."  2 —  A  singular  story,  both 

2  E.  A.  Greene's  "  Saints  and  their  Symbols." 


4  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

in  its  peaceful  termination  and  in  its  idea  of  a  woman  ruling 
Roman  Bergamo  as  a  duchess. 

Roman  peace  and  prosperity  were  soon  ended,  however, 
together  with  Verona,  Vicenza,  Padua,  and  so  many  other 
cities,  Bergamo  was  destroyed  by  Attila;  and  it  must  have 
been  a  very  thorough  destruction,  since  it  has  left  us  prac- 
tically no  fragments  of  the  ancient  buildings.  But  that 
Bergamo  soon  rose  again,  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  she  be- 
came the  capital  of  a  Lombard  duchy.  In  894  she  was 
conquered  by  Arnolfo  of  Germany,  with  Berengarius;  but 
this  subjection  lasted  only  a  few  years.3  In  the  12th  cen- 
tury, after  the  enjoyment  of  nearly  three  centuries  of  inde- 
pendence and  democratic  rule,  she  was  drawn  into  the  long 
struggle  between  Guelfs  and  Ghibellines.  It  was  at  Pon- 
tida,  only  a  few  miles  from  Bergamo,  that  her  consuls  in 
1 167  met  those  of  the  other  plain-towns  to  form  the  first 
Lombard  League,  and  swore  to  struggle  unitedly  against 
the  devastating  power  of  Frederick  Barbarossa ;  —  a  conven- 
tion to  which  Italians  always  look  back  with  emotion,  as 
the  first  impulse  towards  a  united  Italy! 

That  same  year  the  federated  cities  accomplished  the  ex- 
traordinary task  of  rebuilding  Milan,  which  Frederick  had 
razed  to  the  ground ;  and  the  next  year  they  erected  the  new 
town  of  Alessandria  —  named  after  their  ally,  Pope  Alex- 
ander III  —  as  a  fortress  to  contest  the  Emperor's  southern 
trips.  The  Bergamasques  fought  famously  beside  their 
brethren,  and  became  prominent  also  in  the  renewal  of  the 
League  against  Frederick  II,  a  half  century  later;  but  their 
city,  probably  from  its  lofty  location,  seems  to  have  escaped 
the  sieges  and  captures  which  visited  Brescia.  Although  they 
thus  freed  themselves  from  imperial  oppression,  it  was  only 
to  fall  into  the  covetous  hands  of  that  very  town  which  they 
3  Vide  F.  di  Manzano's  compilation  of  the  "  Annali  di  FriuiliS 


BERGAMO  THE  LOWER  5 

had  helped  to  raise  —  Milan:  a  strange  end  to  all  their 
sacrifices  and  labours. 

This  change  was  accomplished  at  first  by  their  own  voli- 
tion, without  their  perceiving  its  significance:  the  Delia 
Torre  had  become  the  supreme  authority  in  Milan,  by  reason 
of  leading  the  city's  troops  in  the  warfare  against  Frederick 
II;  and  Bergamo,  Lodi,  Novara,  Como,  as  well  as  a  number 
of  other  neighbouring  Guelf  towns,  deemed  it  wise  to  entrust 
to  those  leaders,  about  1263,  the  command  of  their  own 
forces,  and  to  obtain  their  protection  by  electing  them  sov- 
ereign lords.  "  Thus  began  to  be  formed  among  the  Lom- 
bard republics,  without  their  suspecting  that  they  divested 
themselves  of  their  liberty,  the  powerful  state  which  a  cen- 
tury and  a  half  later  became  the  duchy  of  Milan.  But  the 
Pope,  jealous  of  the  house  of  Delia  Torre,  appointed  Arch- 
bishop of  Milan,  Otho  Visconti,  whose  family,  powerful  on 
the  borders  of  the  Lago  Maggiore,  then  shared  the  exile 
of  the  nobles  and  Ghibellines."  4 

When  Bergamo  saw  herself  pass  from  the  hands  of  the 
Delia  Torre  to  those  of  Otho,  without  her  own  consent  or 
opinion  being  asked,  she  realised  what  she  had  done,  too  late. 
She  was  so  far  west  as  to  have  escaped  the  clutches  of  Ezze- 
lino  da  Romano,  and  be  safe  from  those  of  the  Delia  Carrara 
or  Delia  Scala;  but  she  paid  for  it  by  the  tyranny  of  the 
Visconti. 

Up  to  this  time  the  Bergamasques  had  been  violent  Guelfs, 
—  so  much  so,  that  the  story  is  related  that  one  citizen  who 
discovered  his  guests  to  be  Ghibellines,  by  the  way  they  sliced 
their  garlic,  violated  the  sacred  laws  of  hospitality  and  killed 
them  on  the  spot.  "  Ghibellines  cut  fruit  at  table  cross- 
wise, Guelfs  straight  down. — Ghibellines  drank  out  of 
smooth,  and  Guelfs  out  of  chased  goblets.     Ghibellines  wore 

4  Symonds'  "  Age  of  the  Despots." 


6  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

white,  and  Guelfs,  red  roses.  Yawning,  passing  in  the  street, 
throwing  dice,  gestures  in  speaking  or  swearing,  were  used 
as  pretexts  for  distinguishing  the  one  half  of  Italy  from  the 
other." 4a  With  partisanship  reduced  to  such  intensity,  it 
can  be  conceived  how  the  Bergamasques  must  have  suffered 
on  being  transferred  to  the  Ghibelline  rule  of  the  Visconti, 
subjected  to  Ghibelline  nobles,  banners,  and  emblems,  and 
forced  to  subdue,  conceal,  and  alter  their  own  opinions. 
But  the  transition  was  duly  accomplished;  Bergamo  became 
Ghibelline,  and  fought  under  the  Visconti  standard,  to  force 
other  cities  to  the  same  yoke. 

After  Otho  Visconti,  Archbishop  of  Milan,  had  in  1277 
suddenly  seized  and  imprisoned  the  Delia  Torre,  his  sole 
authority  was  recognised  without  trouble.  Later  he  asso- 
ciated with  him  in  the  government  his  nephew  Matteo, 
obtained  from  the  Emperor  the  appointment  of  them  both 
as  Imperial  Vicars,  and  secured  the  people's  acceptance  of 
Matteo  as  his  heir.  Both  of  these  were  very  strong  men, 
and  Matteo  became  "  the  model  of  a  prudent  Italian  despot. 
—  He  ruled  his  states  by  force  of  character,  craft,  and  in- 
sight, more  than  by  violence  or  cruelty."  5  His  successors 
followed  his  example.  From  1302  to  13 10  he  was  tem- 
porarily ousted  by  the  Delia  Torre  and  the  Guelfs;  but 
with  the  advent  of  Emperor  Henry  VII  in  the  latter  year, 
his  welcome  by  the  Delia  Torre,  and  his  attempt  to  extort 
money  from  the  Milanese, —  the  people  rose,  expelled  Em- 
peror and  Delia  Torre  together,  and  recalled  the  Visconti. 

Matteo's  son  Galeazzo  succeeded  him  as  despot  in  1322, 
and  Galeazzo's  son  Azzo  followed,  who  subjugated  ten 
neighbouring  cities,  including  Brescia,  and  left  a  large  king- 
dom, at  his  death  in  1339,  to  Lucchino,  another  son  of  Mat- 

4*  Synonds'  "  Age  of  the  Despots." 
5  Idem. 


BERGAMO  THE  LOWER  7 

teo.  Lucchlno  secured  possession  of  Parma  and  Pisa  also; 
and  was  soon  succeeded  by  his  brother  Giovanni.  "  The 
Visconti  now  took  the  place  of  the  Delia  Scala  as  by  far  the 
most  powerful  of  all  the  houses  of  the  Lombard  plain.  Gio- 
vanni held  the  lordship  of  sixteen  flourishing  Italian 
towns,"  6  —  including  Bergamo,  Crema  and  Cremona.  He 
was  Archbishop  of  Milan  as  well  as  temporal  ruler, — "  the 
friend  of  Petrarch,  and  one  of  the  most  notable  characters 
of  the  14th  century."  7  Upon  his  death  the  huge  domains 
were  for  a  time  divided,  between  the  three  sons  of  his 
brother  Stefano:  Bernabo  received  Brescia  and  the  three  cities 
last  mentioned,  Matteo  the  southern  towns,  and  Galeazzo 
the  western,  while  Genoa  and  Milan  were  to  be  ruled  jointly. 
But  the  territories  were  soon  reunited,  by  the  master  political 
craftsman  of  the  trecento,  the  ablest  of  all  the  Visconti,  the 
greatest  of  all  Italian  despots, —  Gian  Galeazzo. 

Matteo  was  assassinated  by  his  brothers ;  Galeazzo  died ; 
Gian  Galeazzo,  as  his  only  son,  succeeded  him  in  1378  in 
possession  of  the  western  towns,  and,  by  long  deceiving  his 
uncle  Barnabo  with  a  mask  of  timidity,  finally  induced  the 
latter,  in  1385,  to  come  out  of  Milan  with  his  sons,  and 
greet  his  nephew  as  the  latter  passed  by  with  an  escort  of 
horsemen.  It  was  a  fatal  error;  for  Gian  Galeazzo  with 
a  word  to  his  soldiers  seized  Barnabo  and  the  sons,  entered 
Milan,  imprisoned  them,  and  declared  himself  sole  ruler  of 
the  Visconti  domains.  Then  began  his  endless,  far-reaching, 
secret  schemings  to  make  himself  the  master  of  all  Italy, 
by  any  means  discoverable, —  treachery,  murder,  bribery,  the 
sowing  of  dissension  and  suspicion,  the  deception  of  friends 
and  foes  alike,  the  hiring  of  condottieri  to  make  wars,  etc., — 
means  which  resulted  in  the  steady  addition  to  his  state  of 

6  Oscar  Browning's  "  Guelfs  and  Ghibellines." 

7  Symonds'  "  Age  of  the  Despots." 


8  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

one  city  after  another,  until  it  extended  from  the  Alps 
to  the  Umbrian  plain,  from  Friuli  to  Piedmont  and 
Liguria. 

Gian  Galeazzo  was  as  limitlessly  ambitious  as  Napoleon ; 
his  whole  soul  and  being  centred  in  empire  alone ;  wine, 
women,  music,  the  chase,  hawking,  riding,  the  play,  amuse- 
ments of  any  kind,  were  all  alike  distasteful  to  him, — who,  a 
physical  coward,  passed  his  whole  time  in  manipulating  fear- 
lessly the  greatest  captains  and  rulers  of  the  age.  "  Pure 
intellect,  in  fact,  had  reached  to  perfect  independence  in  this 
prince. —  It  was  he  who  invented  Bureaucracy,  by  creating  a 
special  class  of  paid  clerks  and  secretaries  of  departments. 
By  applying  this  mercantile  machinery  to  the  management 
of  his  vast  dominions  —  Gian  Galeazzo  raised  his  wealth  enor- 
mously above  that  of  his  neighbours." 8  He  gathered  by 
taxes  and  forced  "  loans  "  some  2,000,000  florins  per  year, — 
more  than  even  the  income  of  the  French  King.  "  False 
and  pitiless,  he  joined  to  immeasurable  ambition  a  genius  for 
enterprise,  and  to  immovable  constancy  a  personal  timidity 
which  he  did  not  endeavour  to  conceal.  The  least  unex- 
pected motion  near  him  threw  him  into  a  paroxysm  of  nerv- 
ous terror.  No  prince  employed  so  many  soldiers  to  guard 
his  palace."  9  And  it  is  doubtful  if  any  prince  ever  had  so 
many  deeds  of  blood  and  horror  to  damn  his  soul.  He 
never  went  to  his  end,  nor  acquired  a  city,  by  direct  means, 
or  by  warfare,  if  it  were  attainable  by  poison,  treachery,  or 
the  stiletto.  Except  for  his  deportment,  he  was  the  arche- 
type and  incarnation  of  Machiavelli's  ideal  prince.10 

"  The  systematic  plans  conceived  by  Gian  Galeazzo  for 
the  enslavement  of  Italy  —  are  scarcely  more  extraordinary 

8  Symonds'  "  Age  of  the  Despots." 

9  Sismondi's  "  Italian  Republics." 

10  Machiavelli's  "  De  Principatibus." 


BERGAMO  THE  LOWER  9 

than  the  sudden  dissolution  of  his  dukedom  at  his  death."  10a 
When  Florence  awaited  in  dread  the  closing  of  the  net, 
ever  more  closely  drawn  about  her,  when  Venice  watched 
with  dismay  the  approaching  loss  of  her  mainland  territories, 
when  papal  Rome  trembled  at  the  giant  hand  already  reach- 
ing from  Perugia  and  Siena,  when  Naples  shuddered  at  her 
advancing  doom,  that  would  complete  the  Viper's  consolida- 
tion of  Italy, —  suddenly,  at  only  42  years  of  age,  the  master 
tyrant  died  of  the  plague ;  and  they  were  freed.  His  domin- 
ions by  his  will  were  equally  divided  between  the  two  legiti- 
mate infant  sons,  for  whom  the  widowed  Duchess  Catherine 
was  appointed  guardian;  Giovanni  Maria  was  to  have  Milan, 
and  half  the  subject  cities,  including  Brescia  and  Bergamo, — 
Filippo  Maria,  the  other  half,  with  Pavia  for  his  capital. 
But  —  the  renowned  captains  of  adventure  whom  Gian 
Galeazzo  had  trained  and  held  in  leash,  at  the  head  of  the 
forces  which  he  had  helped  them  gather,  instantly  disregarded 
this  will  and  acted  for  themselves ;  while  in  those  cities  which 
they  did  not  seize,  the  old  local  tyrants  bobbed  up  again. 

In  Bergamo  the  noble  families  of  the  Suardi  and  Colleoni 
made  themselves  masters  of  the  town;  but  soon,  aware  of 
their  isolated  weakness,  sold  it  to  Pandolfo  Malatesta,  the 
condottiere,  who  with  his  troops  had  grasped  Brescia  in 
the  turmoil.  Francesco  della  Carrara  took  Verona.  The 
Duchess  Catherine  now  made  the  error  of  calling  the  Vene- 
tians to  her  aid, —  who  expelled  the  Carrara  from  Verona, 
Vicenza  and  Padua,  but  kept  the  spoil  for  their  own.  Cath- 
erine was  soon  poisoned,  and  Giovanni  Maria  was  murdered 
at  Milan,  where  he  had  been  indulging  in  the  most  inhuman 
atrocities  ever  known;  then  Filippo  Maria,  likewise  a  cruel 
degenerate  but  more  crafty  and  ambitious,  proceeded  step  by 
step  to  recover  his  father's  dominions,  by  his  father's  methods. 

10a  Symonds'  "  Age  of  the  Despots." 


io  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

He  was  a  vile,  hideous,  cowardly  creature,  who  hid  himself 
from  all  men  in  secret  chambers,  and  even  constructed  canals 
with  high  walls  by  which  to  pass  unperceived  from  palace  to 
palace;  but  he  had  inherited  his  father's  power  of  using 
abler  men.  He  discovered  Carmagnola,  made  him  captain 
of  his  armies,  and  the  latter  between  1412  and  1422  succes- 
sively dislodged  the  swarm  of  lesser  tyrants, —  including 
Malatesta  from  Bergamo  and  Brescia, —  and  so  recovered 
most  of  the  Visconti  territories.  Then  Filippo  renewed  his 
father's  designs  upon  Italy,  and  attacked  the  more  southerly 
states  with  Francesco  Sforza  the  elder  as  his  general, —  who 
had  once, —  runs  the  story, —  been  a  woodchopper.  When 
Sforza  was  killed,  his  great  son  of  the  same  name  succeeded 
him.  Carmagnola  had  been  so  brilliantly  successful  that  the 
mean  spirit  of  Filippo  now  was  jealous,  and  disgraced  him. 

It  was  Filippo's  fatal  error.  Carmagnola  fled  to  Venice, 
induced  the  Republic  to  yield  to  the  entreaties  of  Florence 
to  form  a  league  against  Milan,  and  in  1426  led  a  powerful 
Venetian  army  to  victory  over  the  Duke.  Bergamo  was  one 
of  the  fruits  of  the  campaign,  and,  with  her  surrounding 
lands,  became  from  that  time  a  happy  and  prosperous  Vene- 
tian subject.  Carmagnola  drove  the  Milanese  back  on  every 
side;  Sforza  revolted  against  the  Duke  and  took  for  awhile 
the  other  side, —  bought  over  by  the  Florentines.  Carmagnola 
had  such  great  success  that  he  became  too  independent  and 
indolent  for  the  Venetian  Council  of  Ten,  who  finally  sus- 
pected him  of  treasonable  correspondence  with  Filippo,  exe- 
cuted him,  and  placed  Gattamelata  in  charge  of  their  forces. 
The  condottiere,  Niccolo  Piccinino  of  Perugia,  led  the  Milan- 
ese in  the  ensuing  campaign,  with  much  ability,  but  small 
success. 

In  1442  Sforza  was  reattached  to  Duke  Filippo  by  suc- 
ceeding in  the  marriage  which  he  demanded  with  the  lat- 


BERGAMO  THE  LOWER  n 

ter's  only  child,  Bianca.  Filippo  with  his  aid  continued  the 
war  against  Florence  and  Venice  until  the  year  1447,  when 
he  died, —  the  last  of  the  Visconti.  The  Milanese  set  up  a 
republic;  but  Sforza,  by  a  long  series  of  deceitful  manoeuvres 
—  leagues,  desertions,  treacheries,  warfare  —  succeeded  in 
1450  in  violently  imposing  himself  upon  the  Milanese  as 
their  duke,  through  the  alleged  claim  of  his  wife  to  the 
throne.  The  crown  thus  acquired  little  benefited  his  family; 
it  brought  them  misery  and  destruction,  visited  Lombardy 
with  calamities,  and  proved  the  undoing  of  Italy.  By  dis- 
appointing the  claim  of  the  French  Due  d'Orleans,  after- 
wards Louis  XII,  whose  mother  had  been  the  sister  of 
Filippo,  it  led  to  the  French  invasion  of  1499,  which  was  the 
beginning  of  the  new  foreign  oppression. 

On  Sforza's  death  in  1466,  five  of  his  descendants  rapidly 
succeeded  to  his  throne:  Galeazzo,  the  eldest  son,  who  was 
assassinated  for  his  horrible  atrocities  by  three  heroes  in 
1476;  Gian  Galeazzo,  the  latter's  infant  son,  who  died 
early, —  it  was  supposed,  of  poison,  by  Galeazzo's  brother, 
Lodovico;  Lodovico  himself,  surnamed  II  Moro,  the  ablest 
and  best  of  the  Sforza  line, —  and  his  two  sons  after  him. 
Lodovico  ruled  from  Galeazzo's  death  until  1499, —  first  as 
regent  for  his  feeble  nephew,  of  whose  death  modern  criti- 
cism now  absolves  him,  then  in  his  own  name.  He  married 
the  fascinating  Beatrice  D'Este,  held  a  brilliant  court,  enter- 
tained and  visited  on  a  magnificent  scale,  and  profusely 
encouraged  art,  in  all  its  branches.  For  the  last  sixteen  years 
of  his  reign  he  kept  the  great  Leonardo  da  Vinci  with  him, 
who  instituted  an  Academy  of  Art,  and  conducted  his  remark- 
able school  of  painting,  that  became  the  representative  of 
Milan. 

In  1494  Lodovico  unwisely  called  the  French  into  Italy, 
under  Charles  VIII,  to  aid  him  against  his  enemies;  and  in 


12  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

1499  they  returned  under  Louis  XII,  in  pursuance  of  the 
latter's  claim  upon  the  Duchy, —  occupied  Milan,  and  im- 
prisoned Lodovico  at  Loches;  where  he  died  miserably,  after 
several  years  in  a  dark  dungeon.  So  fell  the  doomed  Sforza 
dynasty,  after  only  three  rulers,  leaving  their  country  in  the 
hated  hands  of  foreigners.  There  were  two  short  restora- 
tions,—  Lodovico's  son  Maximilian,  15 12-15,  and  his  brother 
Francesco  II,  1521-35;  but  the  unfortunate  Milanese  terri- 
tory after  Lodovico's  fall  continued  to  be  the  scene  of  con- 
stant warfare  between  the  French,  the  Germans,  the  Swiss, 
and  finally  the  Spaniards  —  who  eventually  emerged  su- 
preme in  1530,  when  Charles  V  received  from  the  Pope  the 
iron  crown  of  Lombardy. 

It  was  from  the  locally  illustrious  family  of  the  Colleoni 
that  the  renowned  condottiere  Bartolomeo  Colleoni  came, 
who  fought  brilliantly  for  Venice  in  the  wars  against  Filippo 
Visconti.  More  uniformly  faithful  than  Carmagnola,  more 
successful  than  Gattamelata,  by  the  time  that  he  was  old 
enough  to  retire  he  had  gathered  a  vast  fortune,  which  he 
used  in  wide-spread  charities,  and  for  the  maintenance  of 
palaces  in  Bergamo  and  castles  in  the  neighbouring  country- 
side; and  in  these,  surrounded  by  a  throng  of  old  companions 
of  the  sword,  attended  by  a  host  of  servitors,  he  held  a 
brilliant  court  for  many  years.  At  his  death  it  was  found  that 
he  had  bequeathed  most  of  his  riches  to  the  Serene  Republic, 
—  an  absolutely  unique  occurrence, —  which  came  to  Venice 
just  when  she  was  in  the  direst  need  of  money,  distressed 
and  menaced  by  the  victorious  Turks. 

In  heartfelt  gratitude  the  Republic  erected  to  her  bene- 
factor that  glorious  equestrian  statue  in  bronze,  by  the  hand 
of  the  great  Verocchio  of  Florence,  which  stands  before  the 
church  of  SS.  Giovanni  e  Paolo,  familiar  to  all  travellers; 
thus  conferring  upon  the  captain  a  reward  of  immortality, 


BERGAMO  THE  LOWER  13 

from  the  genius  of  the  sculptor,  which  he  might  never  other- 
wise have  had.  But  furthermore  —  which  is  not  so  gen- 
erally known  —  he  left  behind  him  other  monuments  in  his 
city  of  Bergamo:  the  extraordinary  Cappella  Colleon'i,  that 
he  commenced  in  his  lifetime,  his  elaborate  sculptured  tomb 
within  it,  erected  by  his  heirs,  and  the  orphan  asylum  of  the 
"  Luogo  Pio  Colleoni,"  to  which  he  devoted  his  beautifully 
frescoed  palace ;  —  altogether  constituting  a  good  part  of  the 
old  town's  principal  sights. 

Bergamo,  and  her  territory  as  far  as  the  Adda,  remained 
Venetian  from  her  seizure  by  Carmagnola  in  1428,  thus  es- 
caping the  odious  tyranny  of  the  Sforzas,  which  was  fastened 
upon  the  rest  of  the  Visconti  domains.  She  sank  gladly  into 
a  restful,  quiet  prosperity,  isolated  upon  her  hilltop ;  and  gave 
herself  to  trade,  and  the  development  of  that  art  which  has 
become  her  crown  of  glory.  Neither  the  times  of  Napoleon 
nor  the  Risorgimento  roused  her  sufficiently  to  play  any  lead- 
ing part, —  although  she  took  her  due  share  —  and  only  the 
recent  advent  of  the  manufacturing  era  waked  her  business- 
sense,  to  spread  a  new  city  upon  the  plain. 

Prior  to  the  Venetian  era  Bergamo  seems  to  have  par- 
ticipated very  little  in  the  Renaissance  of  art,  in  any  of  its 
branches,  and  to  have  produced  only  two  painters  worth 
mentioning, —  the  brothers  Pietro  and  Pecino  (or  Paxino) 
da  Nova,  of  whom  the  latter  alone  has  left  good  works  in  the 
city.  They  evidently  studied  and  followed  the  manner  of 
Giotto,  during  the  latter  part  of  the  trecento  and  early  quat- 
trocento. After  the  annexation  to  Venice,  also,  no  artistic 
impulse  arrived,  until  the  end  of  the  quattrocento,  when  the 
fame  of  Gian  Bellini  drew  a  number  of  Bergamasques  to  his 
school ;  and  they  later  returned  to  revivify  their  town. 
Among  the  first  of  these  students  were  three  born  in  the 
same  year,  1480,  who  were  therefore  companions  in  Bellini's 


i4  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

studio,  and  together  gazed  in  wonder  at  the  superior  progress 
made  by  two  of  their  fellow-pupils,  by  three  years  their 
seniors, —  Titian  and  Giorgione ;  the  latter,  however,  being 
the  earlier  in  development,  was  the  genius  who  most  attracted 
them,  as  he  did  Pordenone  and  so  many  others, —  dazzling 
their  minds  and  drawing  them  after  him,  by  the  fire  of  his 
soul. 

Those  same  three  students  in  due  time  became  three  of 
the  leading  masters  of  Venetian  painting,  inferior  only  to 
Titian  and  Giorgione,  and  in  some  respects  even  their  su- 
periors. The  greatest  of  the  three,  in  fact,  attained  a 
supreme  height  all  his  own,  by  following  his  own  separate 
path  after  he  had  absorbed  the  ideas  of  all  the  others;  this 
was  Jacopo  (or  Giacomo)  Palma,  called  "  II  Vecchio  "  to 
distinguish  him  from  his  grandnephew.  "  There  is  not  a 
line  or  pencil-stroke  in  his  works  that  does  not  divulge  the 
spirit  of  one  who  may  claim  in  everything  to  have  been  orig- 
inal. From  the  borders  of  Piedmont  on  the  west  to  the 
Gulf  of  Trieste  on  the  east, —  there  is  not  a  city  of  any  pre- 
tensions that  did  not  feel  the  influence  of  Palmesque  art."  " 
He  was  not  strictly  a  native  Bergamasque,  having  been  born 
in  the  adjacent  village  of  Serina;  nor  did  he  return  to  Ber- 
gamo to  dwell,  living  mostly  in  Venice,  and  paying  but  an 
occasional  visit  to  the  little  city  where  he  was  first  edu- 
cated. Yet  Bergamo  claims  him  as  her  own,  and  has  shone 
reflected  in  his  glory. 

The  second  of  the  trio  proved  also  a  genius  of  the  very 
Srst  rank,  and,  after  being  influenced  by  Giorgione  and 
Palma,  also  followed  his  own  diverging  manner  to  his  own 
supreme  eminence, —  the  far  and  solitary  height  of  pure, 
celestial  beauty  of  line.  Previtali  to  my  mind  attained  in 
depicting  the  human  form  an  ideality  of  conception,  a  re- 

11  Crowe  and  Cavalcasalle. 


BERGAMO  THE  LOWER  15 

finement  of  modelling  and  expression,  an  unadulterated, 
ethereal  loveliness,  that  mount  nearer  to  the  heavenly  beings 
than  any  one  else  has  climbed.  His  manner  is  permeated  by 
some  of  the  quaint  restraint  of  the  earlier  artists.  There  is 
no  dross  nor  superfluity  in  his  serene  compositions;  they  do 
not  depend  upon  colour  or  action  for  their  effects;  gentle 
grace  combined  with  lofty  dignity  and  restful  bliss,  give  to  his 
works  an  enchantment  at  once  peculiar  and  profound.  H« 
was  attached  to  his  native  city,  returned  to  dwell  there,  and 
filled  her  palaces  with  those  wonderful  pictures  which  con- 
stitute her  highest  beauty.  One  cannot  know  Previtali's 
genius  at  Venice,  Padua  or  Verona;  one  must  go  to  Ber- 
gamo to  achieve  that  felicity.  And  he  who  has  not  beheld 
her  ideal  Madonnas  cannot  conceive  the  height  of  pure  love- 
liness to  which  human  art  may  reach.12 

The  third  of  the  trio,  Lorenzo  Lotto  —  who,  though  not  a 
native  of  Bergamo,  came  there  to  dwell  and  labour  —  was 
somewhat  inferior  to  the  others  in  loftiness  of  conception, 
drawing,  and  expression,  in  spite  of  his  continued  friendship 
and  association  with  them ;  but  his  works  radiate  a  gorgeous- 
ness  of  colour,  a  wealth  of  grace  and  adornment,  an  opulence 
of  beauty  in  composition  and  form,  that  are  almost  exotic 
in  their  exuberance,  and  belong  to  the  most  ornamental, 
striking  products  of  the  Venetian  school.  While  Previtali 
struck  a  sweet,   clear  note,  Lotto  pounded  a  reverberating 

12  "  Previtali,"  said  Rio,  "  was  the  most  distinguished  pupil  of  Bel- 
lini, whom  he  soon  surpassed  in  the  charm  of  his  colouring  and 
the  grace  and  delicacy  of  his  contours.  Whoever  has  seen  his  pro- 
ductions in  his  native  city,  where  his  happiest  inspirations  are  to 
be  found, —  and  has  experienced  the  lively  and  delicious  impres- 
sion which  these  works  must  necessarily  produce  on  the  mind  of 
every  spectator, —  cannot  fail  to  recognize  the  superiority  of  Pre- 
vitali, in  certain  respects,  over  the  other  disciples  of  Bellini." — 
Poetry  of  Christian  Art. 


16  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

chord  like  the  peal  of  an  organ,  that  forced  attention  from 
every  side.  He,  also,  preferred  Bergamo  as  a  residence,  and 
adorned  her  churches  with  what  is  doubtless  the  most  splen- 
did, sustained  series  of  brilliant  large  canvases  to  be  found  by 
one  painter  in  any  city  of  the  smaller  size.  When  I  think 
of  Bergamo,  immediately  the  vision  of  those  beautiful,  richly 
glowing  compositions  seems  to  extend  before  me  like  a  gor- 
geous procession.  He  had  "  inventive  faculty  and  poetic 
fancy  seldom  surpassed. —  It  is  not  to  be  doubted  that  Lotto's 
masterpieces  were  honoured  by  the  Bergamasques  with  a 
special  veneration."  13 

A  fourth  Bergamasque  painter,  some  ten  years  younger 
than  this  trio,  who  like  them  studied  at  Venice,  and  imitated 
Giorgione,  and  has  also  achieved  much  renown, —  was  Gio- 
vanni Busi,  or  Cariani,  whose  works  are  likewise  remarkable 
for  their  exquisite  loveliness.  A  goodly  number  of  them  re- 
main to  embellish  the  city  of  his  nativity.14  Of  the  same 
period  was  the  rare  Antonio  Boselli,  who  came  early  to  Ber- 
gamo from  his  native  Val  Brembana, —  the  same  who  painted 
that  very  beautiful  Madonna  and  Saints  on  the  first  right- 
hand  pillar  of  S.  Antonio  at  Padua.  His  works  are  few, 
but  mostly  display  the  same  grace  and  wealth  of  colour, — 
which  show  the  influence  of  Lotto.  Francesco  da  Santa 
Croce  was  another  contemporary  student  of  Gian  Bellini. 

After  this,  the  great  generation,  the  city  produced  many 
lesser  artists  during  the  subsequent  years  of  the  cinquecento, 
including  a  few  who  painted  an  occasional  first-class  picture: 

13  Crowe  and  Cavalcasalle. 

14 "  Cariani  executed  a  great  number  of  devotional  pictures  for 
his  countrymen, —  and,  besides,  many  fresco  paintings,  both  for 
the  exterior  and  interior  of  various  palaces.  .  .  .  Boselli  adopted 
the  manner  of  the  artists  of  the  fifteenth  century, —  aiming  more  at 
dignity  than  variety  in  his  compositions." — Rio:  The  Poetry  of 
Christian  Art. 


BERGAMO  THE  LOWER  17 

such  as  Enea  Salmeggia,  called  Talpino, —  who  studied  un- 
der the  Campi  at  Cremona  and  Raphael's  works  at  Rome, — 
Paola  Cavagna,  who  was  a  pupil  of  Morone,  and  a 
disciple  of  Paolo  Veronese, —  and  Francesco  Zucco,  who  was 
taught  by  the  same  masters. 

There  was  another  field  of  art,  however,  out  of  the  beaten 
tracks  and  more  seldom  entered,  which  Bergamo  also  took 
up  at  the  end  of  the  quattrocento,  and  not  only  made  a 
specialty,  but  developed  to  an  unprecedented  degree.  This 
was  tarsiatura, —  as  to  which  the  city  occupies  a  unique  posi- 
tion of  celebrity  and  superiority.  Four  men,  who  were  the 
greatest  inlaying  artists  of  the  Renaissance, —  together  with 
Fra  Giovanni  da  Verona  —  carried  on  this  delicate  work  at 
Bergamo  from  about  1500  to  1575.  The  first  were  the 
renowned  brothers,  Damiano  and  Stefano  da  Bergamo,  who 
seem  to  have  conducted  a  school  in  their  native  city,  and 
also  lett  their  products  far  and  wide  over  Italy,  including 
the  marvellous  choir-doors  of  S.  Pietro  at  Perugia.  The 
chief  of  their  pupils  (as  is  surmised)  was  Gian  Francesco 
Capodiferro,  who,  about  1520-50,  "  worked  after  the  de- 
signs of  Lotto,  and  instructed  in  the  art  his  brother  Pietro 
and  his  son  Zanino,  so  that  the  city  continued  to  be  sup- 
plied with  excellent  artificers."  15 

The  last  great  inlayer,  probably  a  pupil  of  Capodiferro, 
was  Giovanni  Belli,  who  laboured  also  at  Bergamo,  exe- 
cuting from  1540  to  1547  the  last  of  the  wonderful  tarsia 
with  which  they  all  adorned  the  principal  church,  S.  Maria 
Maggiore.  There,  in  the  choir,  their  masterpieces  repose, —  a 
sight  to  be  equalled  nowhere  else  in  the  land. 

Bergamo  was  never  distinguished  in  a  literary  way,  but 
nevertheless  produced  two  remarkable  men :  Gasparin  da 
Bergamo    (1370— 1 431),   the   renowned  scholar  and  writer, 

15  Lanzi's  "  History  of  Painting." 


1 8  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

who  lectured  at  the  universities  of  Padua  and  Milan,  dis- 
covered the  MS.  of  Cicero's  "  De  Oratore,"  and  "  had  the 
good  fortune  —  to  restore  the  text  of  Quintilian  by  the  help 
of  the  manuscript  brought  from  St.  Gall  by  Poggio,  and 
another  found  in  Italy  by  Leonard  Aretin ;  "  16  secondly,  Ber- 
nardo Tasso,  the  father  of  Torquato,  who  was  born  at  Ber- 
gamo in  1493,  "  the  son  of  Ruggero  and  Caterina  de'Tassi,  a 
noble  Venetian  lady."  Deprived  by  death,  at  an  early  age, 
first  of  his  parents  and  later  of  his  uncle,  the  Bishop  of 
Recanati,  who  had  educated  him, — "  he  had  just  sufficient 
property  to  enable  him  to  travel  —  and  spend  a  life  of 
leisure."  17  So,  strangely  like  his  son  after  him,  he  became 
a  wanderer  through  Italy,  writing  excellent  sonnets  much 
appreciated  at  the  time,  and  which  might  have  achieved 
more  lasting  renown,  had  they  not  been  paled  by  his  son's 
brighter  genius. 

In  still  another  branch  of  art  Bergamo  has  distinguished 
herself;  when  the  musical  revival  of  the  early  part  of  the 
last  century  burst  forth  all  over  Italy,  when  Bellini's  operas 
were  delighting  the  Sicilians  and  Rossini's,  the  Romans,  an- 
other giant  of  equal  powers  emerged  from  this  little  town 
of  Lombardy  to  entrance  the  north.  It  was  Gaetano  Doni- 
zetti. And  he  has  left  an  imperishable  heritage  to  mankind 
in  his  delightful  "  Lucia  di  Lammermoor,"  and  other  op- 
eras. 

When  I  first  went  to  Bergamo,  it  was  in  the  early  spring- 
time. I  had  been  spending  the  winter  in  the  golden  sunshine 
of  the  Riviera;  and,  after  repairing  primarily  to  Milan,  I  set 
forth  in  the  first  warm  days  of  April  upon  a  long-planned 
pilgrimage  that  should  carry  me  through  all  the  glorious 
old   towns  of   Lombardy, —  visiting  step   by   step   those  en- 

16  Hallam's  "  Literature  of  Europe." 

17  Henry  Stebbing's  "  Lives  of  the  Italian  Poets." 


BERGAMO  THE  LOWER  19 

chanting,  historic  cities;  convents  and  castles  of  the  plain 
that  have  preserved  for  us  such  wonderful  monuments  from 
their  heroic  era  of  municipal  independence,  and  from  the 
Renaissance  magnificence  of  the  Visconti,  the  Sforzas,  and 
the  Gongaghi.  It  was  to  be,  in  its  inception,  a  circular  tour 
around  Milan, —  the  hub  of  Lombardy  from  which  all  routes 
radiate.  Commencing  therefore  with  Bergamo  on  the  north- 
east, my  design  was  to  swing  in  one  great  curve  about 
the  capital,  until,  reaching  at  last  Lodi  and  Crema  upon  the 
east,  I  should  depart  from  the  circle  upon  a  final  tangent  to 
Cremona  and  Mantua. 

Upon  my  arrival  at  the  railway-station  of  Bergamo,  I 
found  it  located  considerably  south  of  the  city.  A  wide, 
modern  avenue  extended  straightaway  northwest  for  a  mile 
and  more,  at  whose  end  rose  the  steep,  verdurous  hillside  of 
the  old  town,  crowned  by  circling  battlements, —  the  thou- 
sand crowded  buildings  within  them  raising  a  towered  roof- 
line  against  the  sky.  Immediately  to  right  and  left  the 
fields  were  mostly  open,  with  lines  of  recent  edifices  upon  the 
avenue  only;  but  farther  along,  halfway  to  the  hill,  rose  the 
extensive  structures  of  the  lower  city. 

When  the  'bus  which  I  took  reached  this  halfway  place,  I 
found  another  broad,  modern  street  intersecting  the  first 
at  right  angles,  and  a  public  garden  of  some  size  stretching 
beside  it,  in  both  directions.  This  was  the  Piazza  Vittorio. 
Emanuele,  the  central  spot  of  the  lower  city;  and  the 
cross-street  —  known  as  Via  Torquato  Tasso  in  its  north- 
eastern portion,  and  Via  Venti  Settembre  in  its  southwestern 
—  was  the  principal   thoroughfare. 

The  delightful  spring  day  was  rapidly  growing  dark  as 
we  turned  into  it,  and  rolled  southwestward  between  its 
brightly  lit  shops,  to  the  Borgo  S.  Leonardo.  Here  was  lo- 
cated the  Albergo  Italia,  on  the  right  side  of  the  way,  be- 


20  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

hind  the  customary  driveway  entering  underneath  the  build- 
ings. I  found  it  to  be  a  very  comfortable  hostelry  of  the 
old  style,  with  good  food  and  cheap  prices. 

The  hilltop  covered  by  the  upper  city  is  practically  tri- 
angular in  shape,  with  one  point  to  the  south,  opposite  which 
lies  the  lower  Borgo  S.  Leonardo;  from  the  middle  of  its 
southeastern  face  descends  a  funicolare,  to  the  beginning  of 
the  long  avenue  to  the  station;  farther  along,  three  borgoes 
in  a  row  extend  from  the  hill  southeasterly,  parallel  with 
the  avenue, —  Pignolo,  S.  Antonio,  and  Palazzo ;  finally 
comes  the  Borgo  S.  Caterina,  opposite  the  triangle's  eastern 
point.  All  -these  scattered,  straggling,  semi-detached  bor- 
oughs represent  the  lower  city,  over  two  miles  in  length, — 
slightly  in  the  shape  of  a  Roman  sword,  of  which  S.  Caterina 
is  the  hilt,  the  three  in  a  row  form  the  guard,  S.  Leonardo 
makes  the  broadened  head,  and  the  long  stretch  between  the 
latter  bodies  constitutes  the  blade.  This  stretch  is  the  prin- 
cipal thoroughfare  with  its  accompanying  buildings. 

The  borgoes  clearly  were,  in  the  Renaissance  period, — 
when  smaller  and  more  separated, —  individual  villages,  sub- 
urbs of  the  city  on  the  hill ;  for  their  principal  churches  date 
back  to  that  epoch, —  the  same  that  were  filled  with  master- 
pieces by  Lotto  and  his  fellows.  I  discerned  this  as  soon 
as  I  had  started  out  in  the  morning,  and  taken  a  few  steps 
southwestward  to  the  end  of  Via  Venti  Settembre, —  where 
opened  the  Piazza  Pontida,  the  very  centre  of  Borgo  S. 
Leonardo.  The  church  from  which  the  borough  was  named 
faced  the  piazza  on  the  east,  with  an  old,  crumbling,  arched 
portico  in  a  stuccoed  renaissance  facade ;  and  its  basilica- 
interior  exhibited  similar  signs  of  age,  with  a  fine  quattro- 
cento painting  on  its  last  altar  to  right, —  a  Baptism  in  the 
miniature  style,  much  gilded,  and  having  a  charming  at- 
tendant angel. 


BERGAMO  THE  LOWER  21 

This  piazza,  judging  .by  its  stalls,  was  clearly  used  as  the 
local  fruit  and  vegetable  market.  Four  streets  met  in  it, 
from  the  cardinal  points  of  the  compass,  of  which  that  to 
the  south,  Via  S.  Bernardo,  received  the  tramway  coming 
from  Milan;  the  western  Via  Broseta  led  shortly  to  the 
modern  western  gate  of  that  name,  and  the  northern  Via 
S.  Alessandro  ascended  to  the  southern  point  of  the  upper 
town.  This  last  way  I  followed,  to  the  church  after  which  it 
was  named,  S.  Alessandro  in  Colonna,  which  loomed  quickly 
on  the  right  with  massive  bulk.  It  had  likewise  a  stuccoed 
renaissance  fagade,  before  which  stood  an  ancient  Roman 
column,  with  fluted  shaft  and  Corinthian  capital ;  this  was  the 
column  at  which  S.  Alessandro  —  so  said  the  priests  to  the 
credulous  people  —  had  been  martyred.  He  was  the  hero 
who  had  been  a  member  of  the  renowned  Theban  Legion 
under  the  Emperor  Maximin,  and  whose  body  was  so  ten- 
derly cared  for  by  S.  Grata;  hence  the  church  received  its 
name  and  tutelary  saint. 

Its  interior  was  another  aisleless  basilica,  vaulted  in  white 
stucco  with  gilded  ribs,  paved  in  handsome  grey  and  white 
marbles,  adorned  upon  the  walls  with  three-quarter  columns 
of  red  and  blue-veined  marble  (?)  rising  between  the  deep 
altar-recesses  to  a  gilded  cornice;  between  the  vaulting-ribs 
were  frescoes  in  baroque  frames,  over  the  intersection  of 
the  transept  rose  a  dome,  and .  the  large  choir,  slightly  ele- 
vated and  of  even  width  with  the  nave,  terminated  in  the 
usual  apse.  Oh  the  left  side  of  the  nave  stood  a  very 
handsome,  modern,  oak  pulpit,  carved  with  three  splendid 
high-reliefs, —  scenes  from  the  life  of  S.  Alessandro.  In 
the  left  transept  I  saw  a  Brescian  canvas,  an  Assumption 
by  Romanino,  which  had,  however,  lost  all  its  colours,  and 
even  its  tone;  amongst  the  dim,  cold,  dark-grey  figures  of 


22  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

huge  size,  only  the  Madonna  remained  distinct  and  fairly 
modelled. 

Behind  the  yellow  and  white  marble  railing  of  the  choir 
stood  two  elegant,  bronze  candelabra  of  renaissance  design, 
with  seductive  little  angels  attached.  By  the  side  of  the 
third  altar  to  right  I  discovered  an  excellent  Last  Supper, 
evidently  by  Leandro  Bassano,  of  exceptional  composition, — 
the  thirteen  being  seated  around  a  square  table  with  its 
corner  toward  the  observer, —  and  its  dusk  sparkling  with 
strong  light-effects  from  the  single  candle,  whose  rays  create 
an  effulgent  glory  about  the  Saviour's  beautiful  head.  The 
remainder  of  the  good  paintings  were  in  the  sacristy  off 
the  right  transept,  which  was  hung  like  a  gallery;  amongst 
its  several  dozen  canvases  was  a  fine  Madonna  crowned 
by  putti,  signed  by  the  rare  artist,  Giov.  Giacomo  Gavasio  da 
Poscanthe  —  the  last  a  village  near  Bergamo  —  and  dated 
15 12;  also  there  were  two  interesting  quattrocento  panels 
of  standing  saints,  and  another  anonymous,  later  work  (per- 
haps a  copy)  representing  in  two  pieces  the  lovely,  expressive 
heads  of  a  Madonna  and  announcing  angel. 

I  returned  past  the  four-  and  five-storied,  modern-looking, 
stuccoed  buildings  and  shops  of  Via  Venti  Settembre,  to 
Piazza  Vitt.  Emanuele,  600  yards  distant,  stretching  along 
the  avenue's  south  side  in  both  directions  from  the  Viale 
della  Stazione.  The  latter  entered  the  piazza  from  the 
southeast  through  an  ornamental  gateway,  composed  of  two 
square  buildings  surrounded  by  lofty  arcades;  beyond  them 
loomed  a  large,  domed  church,  with  an  imposing  portal  of 
columns  and  pilasters,  its  drum  encircled  by  other  col- 
umns, and  its  dome  topped  by  a  statue  of  the  crowned 
Madonna;  and  shortly  to  west  of  the  Viale,  amidst  the 
lawns   and    shrubbery,    stood    a    marble    figure   of   Vittorio 


BERGAMO  THE  LOWER  23 

Emanuele  II,  upon  a  high,  grey  granite  pedestal  guarded 
by  marble  lions. 

To  the  east  of  the  Viale  the  majestic  form  of  the  Teatro 
Donizetti  terminated  the  gardens,  a  modern  structure  much 
in  the  style  of  the  Paris  opera-house ;  it  was  built  of  rough 
grey  granite  below  and  pink  stucco  above,  the  latter  being 
shaped  into  columned  window-frames,  and  larger  half-col- 
umns supporting  a  rich  frieze  and  cornice;  of  the  elegant 
windows  the  three  central  were  recessed,  those  at  the  ends 
thrown  forward  in  pavilions;  while  in  all  the  spandrels  of 
their  arches  reclined  moulded  figures,  and  a  wealth  of  carving 
was  simulated  upon  caps,  mouldings,  and  entablature.  If 
it  were  real  stonework  it  would  be  admirable;  as  it  is,  it 
is  very  decorative. 

This  operatic  palace,  to  which  the  Bergamasques  have 
given  the  name  of  their  great  composer,  and  where  they  reg- 
ularly enjoy  his  works, —  besides  the  general  scope  of  music, 
—  is  as  splendid  a  monument  to  his  memory  as  could  be 
wished ;  nevertheless  upon  its  farther  side,  in  the  center  of 
a  rectangular  green  space  called  Piazza  Donizetti,  there 
stands  amidst  shrubs  and  flowers  another  memorial,  but  re- 
cently erected ;  and,  to  my  pleasure,  I  found  it  had  one  of 
the  striking,  new,  unconventional  designs  with  which  Italian 
genius  has  lately  startled  and  delighted  the  world.  Upon 
a  high  square  base,  approached  by  double  steps  in  front, 
was  a  semicircular  marble  bench,  on  which  near  the  left 
end  sat  Donizetti,  pencil  and  score  in  hand,  listening  with 
an  inspired  air, —  a  most  lifelike,  impressive  figure;  before 
him  in  the  centre  stood  the  beautiful  form  of  the  Muse, 
picking  from  her  lyre,  with  upturned  eyes,  the  melody  which 
which  was  passing  to  the  entranced  composer.  Altogether 
a  most  graceful  and  deeply  significant  group ;  —  how  very  far 


24  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

ahead  of  those  stiff,  old,  conventional,  unmeaning  statues 
with  which  we  have  been  so  long  afflicted!  Francesco 
Jerace  was  the  talented  artist. 

Next  to  this  again,  still  upon  the  south  side  of  the  street, 
rises  the  large  Municipio, —  a  plain,  three-storied,  modern 
building,  entirely  of  stucco,  painted  yellow,  with  some  dark 
grey,  renaissance  trimmings;  and  beside  it  looms  the  still 
larger  Prefettura,  again  of  modern  stucco-work,  but  more 
elegant  in  design, —  its  central  portion  having  a  monumental 
loggia  upon  the  upper  stories,  with  six  Corinthian  columns, 
the  corner  pavilions  adorned  with  Corinthian  pilasters  cov- 
ered with  arabesques,  the  top  row  of  windows  encased  in 
elaborate  frames,  and  surmounted  by  an  elegant  frieze  and 
cornice.  All  is  painted  a  sort  of  terracotta  colour;  and 
within  the  loggia  are  visible  six  panels  of  reliefs,  in  large 
scenes.  I  entered  the  main  portal,  finding  a  handsome, 
colonnaded  court,  agreeably  backed  by  a  mass  of  greenery. 
It  is  a  constant  wonder  what  grand  civic  buildings  these 
little  Italian  cities  still  put  up,  large  enough  for  a  New 
World  city  of  many  times  their  size. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  the  street  there  extended  from 
the  corner  of  the  Viale  for  a  couple  of  hundred  yards  east- 
ward, a  line  of  queer  temporary  structures,  but  two  stories 
high,  some  of  wood,  others  of  masonry,  occupied  by  shops  and 
cafes;  behind  them,  as  I  found  upon  walking  around,  there 
stretched  a  spacious  square  field,  in  good  part  covered  with 
long  rows  of  wooden  sheds,  closed  and  boarded  up.  This 
was  the  site  of  the  long  celebrated  "  Fiera  di  Sant'Alessan- 
dro,"  one  of  the  famous  municipal  fairs  come  down  to  us 
from  the  Middle  Ages, —  held  annually  from  the  middle 
of  August  to  the  middle  of  September.  Of  late,  however,  it 
has  declined  until  little  is  left  of  its  former  splendour;  and 
consequently   the  strip  of   ground   next  the  street  has  been 


BERGAMO  THE  LOWER  25 

yielded  up  to  shop-purposes.  On  the  west  side,  along  the 
Viale,  the  field  had  not  yet  been  built  upon;  and  I  walked 
over  tKere  through  the  deserted,  mouldering  buildings  of 
the  fair,  whose  forlornness  was  accentuated  by  the  pools  of 
water  left  by  the  last  night's  rain  in  the  unpaved  alleys. 
Some  of  the  buildings  were  clearly  used  for  exhibiting 
horses,  others  for  poultry,  farm-products,  and  manufactures 
of  every  sort,  others  still  for  shows,  bars  and  entertainments 
of  many  kinds ;  while  the  wide  open  space  beyond  was  doubt- 
less in  fair-time  covered  with  cattle,  and  a  host  of  booths  of 
more  temporary  construction.  It  was  of  this  place,  then, 
that  Lady  Montague  wrote  to  the  Countess  of  Bute,  from 
Louvere,  on  Aug.  22,  1749:  "We  are  all  very  quiet  here, 
all  the  beau  monde  being  hurried  away  to  the  fair  at  Ber- 
gamo, which  is  esteemed  the  best  in  Italy  after  that  of  Sene- 
gallia." 

By  the  Viale,  an  unobstructed  view  of  the  upper  city  drove 
these  thoughts  from  my  head.  It  was  a  vast  castle  in  the 
air,  suspended  there  aloft  like  a  mirage,  with  mighty  walls  and 
towers;  straight  ahead  at  the  end  of  the  avenue,  half  a  mile, 
distant,  mounted  the  steep  green  hillside  to  a  considerable 
height,  its  verdure  unbroken  by  sign  of  building  till  near 
the  summit,  where  the  heavy,  grey,  stone  wall  of  mediaeval 
days  swept  unbrokenly  across,  topped  by  a  dense  line  of 
horse-chestnut  trees  several  rows  deep.  Over  these  rose, 
upon  a  higher  ground  within,  the  four-  and  five-storied  walls 
of  aged  white  buildings,  one  tier  above  another,  piling 
thickly  and  confusedly  over  the  whole  hilltop,  to  an  uneven 
skyline  of  domes  and  towers.  There  was  the  soaring  dome 
of  the  Cathedral  —  it  could  be  no  other ;  and  the  shapely 
renaissance  belfries  alternated  with  grim,  truncated,  medi- 
aeval keeps.  The  Duomo  appeared  well  to  the  left;  and 
still  farther  at  that  end,  in  the  front  line  of  edifices,  loomed 


26  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

several  huge,  modern-looking  structures  of  imposing  propor- 
tions and  designs, —  one  faced  with  mighty  columns,  like 
a  temple  of  the  Romans.19 

This  fortified  isolation  in  bygone  times  must  have  been 
as  severe  as  that  of  any  hill-town  of  the  Apennines.  No 
wonder  that  the  mediaeval  Bergamasques  spoke  a  dialect  of 
renowned  singularity,  quite  different  from  their  neighbours 
of  the  plain.  Castiglione's  anecdote  of  the  Renaissance  court 
of  Urbino  shows  how  diverse  it  then  was :  "  A  Berga- 
masque  peasant  had  just  entered  the  service  of  a  nobleman. 
The  princesses  were  told  that  there  had  arrived  a  retainer 
of  Cardinal  Borgia  who  was  a  fine  musician,  a  dancer,  and 
a  great  oddity.  They  fetched  him  in,  welcomed  him,  sat 
him  down  among  them,  and  lionised  him  with  great  respect. 
Unhappily  the  good  man  spoke  an  undescribable  jargon. 
The  author  of  the  trick  made  the  princesses  believe  that  he 
was  shamming  the  Lombard  peasant  for  them.  The  scene 
lasted  a  rather  long  time,  while  those  in  the  secret  were  split- 
ting their  sides."  20 

Turning  back  eastward  upon  Via  Torquato  Tasso,  and 
reaching  the  end  of  the  line  of  temporary  shops  along  the 
front  of  the  fair-grounds,  a  classical  temple  of  the  Christian 
faith  rose  before  me  just  opposite  the  Municipio, —  the 
grandest  church  of  the  lower  city,  SS.  Bartolomeo  e  Stefano. 
Its  light  grey  facade  stood  upon  a  high  flight  of  steps,  and 
was  richly  adorned  with  half-columns  and  pilasters,  in  two 
divisions;  it  had  an  entrance-porch  upon  detached  columns, 
crowned  by  two  statues,  with  a  modern  painting  in  its  lunette 

19  "  And  Bergamo !  "  wrote  George  Meredith.  "  You  know  the  ter- 
races of  Bergamo!  Aren't  they  like  a  morning  sky?  Dying  there 
is  not  death ;  it's  flying  into  the  dawn." —  Meredith's  "  Vittoria." 

20  R.  de  Maulde  la  Claviere's  "The  Women  of  the  Renaissance," 
(translated)    Book  III. 


BERGAMO  THE  LOWER  27 

of  the  Madonna  and  saints,  in  an  imitation  of  golden  mo- 
saic. Other  statues  occupied  the  angles;  and  beside  the 
central  window  overhead,  were  two  panels  of  reliefs  repre- 
senting the  martyrdoms  of  Saints  Bartholomew  and  Stephen. 
Entering,  I  found  a  spacious  basilica  of  strange  colour-effect, 
due  to  the  old  frescoes  spread  all  over  the  vaulted  roof  and 
altar-recesses,  as  well  as  to  the  huge  pilasters  of  imitation- 
marble,  painted  red  and  purple  in  chaotic  waves,  upon  white 
ground ;  centering  this  sea  of  colour  was  an  enormous  picture 
in  the  middle  of  the  vaulting,  showing  Christ  and  the  Ma- 
donna suspended  aloft  in  glory,  with  a  swelling  crowd  of 
saints. 

Behind  the  high-altar  glowed  the  treasure  of  the  place, 
Lotto's  celebrated  masterpiece  of  the  Madonna  enthroned 
between  saints  (dated  1516). —  "As  early  as  1513,  Ales- 
sandro  Martinengo  —  opened  a  regular  competition  amongst 
the  artists  of  the  state  for  an  altarpiece  in  S.  Stefano  of 
Bergamo.  His  choice  fell  upon  Lotto,  who  was  then  stay- 
ing in  the  city,  and  it  wTas  agreed  that  the  price  should  be 
500  ducats.  After  three  years  of  interrupted  labour  the 
altarpiece  was  finished,  and  carried  amidst  universal  rejoic- 
ing to  the  high-altar  of  the  church.  The  subject  here  is 
an  adoration  of  the  Madonna.  She  sits  in  a  rotunda  richly 
decorated  with  mosaics,  and  open  to  the  sky,  her  right  hand 
poised  on  the  head  of  St.  Dominic. — To  the  right  and  left 
stand  several  saints. — We  can  still  understand  the  enthusi- 
asm which  it  caused  in  the  mind  of  the  scribe  who  wrote 
on  a  tablet  beneath  the  predella,  that  Martinengo,  who 
ordered  it,  was  worthy  of  the  title  '  Great,'  and  Lotto  was 
a  painter  more  divine  than  human."  21 

21  Crowe  and  Cavalcasalle. — "  Lotto  " —  says  Corrado  Ricci  — 
"  owed  his  delightful  individuality  to  the  brilliancy  of  his  vibrating 
colour.     We  can  never  weary  of  the  felicitious  intensity  of  expres- 


28  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

It  is  a  large  canvas,  about  iox  15  feet,  with  lifesize  figures 
so  admirably  composed  and  individually  pleasing,  above  all 
in  such  a  splendid  harmony  of  opulent,  glowing  colours,  as 
to  compel  at  the  first  glance  the  tribute  of  wonder  and  de- 
light. Very  lovely  indeed  is  the  throned  Madonna,  with 
a  beatific  expression,  and  a  gentle,  blessing  movement  of  the 
hand;  back  of  her  stretches  an  architectural  recess,  with 
open  colonnades  vanishing  into  gloom,  and  above  her  the 
rotunda  closes  to  a  circular  railed  opening,  from  which 
handsome  angels  look  down.  These  forms  are  in  shades  of 
golden  brown,  the  flying  angels  who  place  the  crown  upon 
the  Virgin's  head  are  in  tints  of  celestial  blue,  and  through 
the  whole  composition  this  charming  theme  continues,  of 
browns  and  blues,  softly  varied  and  intermingled.  It  is 
superlatively  decorative ;  but  feeling  is  there  also, —  the  ex- 
pression of  heavenly  calm  and  joy.  Ridolfi  calls  it  "  won- 
derful"; and  Lanzi  says  that  Lotto  "bestows  upon  the 
Virgin  and  the  infant  Jesus  such  finely  diversified  and 
contrasted  emotions,  that  they  seem  as  if  conversing  with 
the  holy  bystanders,  the  one  on  the  right  and  the  other  on 
the  left  hand."  22 

The  choir-stalls  here  proved  also  worthy  of  close  attention, 
having  backs  decorated  by  Bergamo's  renowned  school  of 
tarsiatura.  They  were  by  Fra  Damiano  himself,  and  very 
remarkable  for  the  many  human  figures  introduced  in  the 
foreground,    with    much    lifelikeness    and    grace, —  a    thing 

sion  which  breathes  the  sweet,  kindly  and  devout  spirit  of  the  art- 
ist. Given  to  prayer  and  the  solitude  of  the  cloister,  his  work  is 
confined  to  pictures  of  sacred  subjects,  instinct  with  melancholy.  He 
has  left  us  no  records,  of  the  dissipated,  gay,  or  luxurious  life  of 
his  fellow  citizens."  {Art  in  Northern  Italy.)  How  different  was 
he  in  this  respect  from  his  contemporary  Paolo  Veronese,  who  had 
the  same  power  of  voluptuous  modelling  and  colours. 
22  Lanzi's  "  History  of  Painting,"  Vol.  III. 


BERGAMO  THE  LOWER  29 

hardly  ever  essayed  by  any  inlayer.  The  action,  too,  was 
eloquent.  Especially  beautiful  was  the  scene  of  Christ  and 
the  woman  at  the  well ;  and  exceptionally  fine  the  figures 
in  the  martyrdoms  of  Saints  Stephen  and  Bartholomew. 

That  afternoon  I  finished  with  the  lower  town,  by  in- 
specting its  three  remaining  important  churches,  farther  to 
the  east.  The  first  and  chief  of  them  was  S.  Spirito,  which 
is  also  located  upon  Via  Torquato  Tasso,  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
beyond  S.  Bartolomeo, —  on  the  avenue's  south  side,  just 
where  it  ends  in  the  Via  Pignolo ;  the  latter  being  the  main 
thoroughfare  of  the  three  borgoes  in  a  row,  extending  down 
their  middle  from  northwest  to  southeast.  S.  Spirito  thus 
stands  in  the  very  centre  of  the  second  borgo  of  the  three, 
S.  Antonio,  at  the  southwestern  angle  of  the  two  streets. 

Its  external  walls  are  of  rough  stones  and  unattractive; 
all  its  glory  is  inside,  in  the  graceful  renaissance  basilica 
without  aisles  or  transept,  of  a  general  soft  grey  tint,  which 
forms  an  ideal  setting  for  the  grand  array  of  magnificent 
canvases  that  flash  and  glow  from  every  altar  with  dazzling 
hues.  In  truth  this  is  one  of  the  finest,  smaller  treasure- 
houses  of  northern  Italy:  here  are  three  wonderful  Previ- 
tali's  —  including  his  conceded  masterpiece, —  a  superb  ex- 
ample of  the  elegant  Borgognone,  and  another  sumptuous 
Lotto.  They  stand  over  the  arched  and  recessed  side-altars, 
separated  by  handsome  grey  stone  pillars,  rising  from  heavy 
bases  to  the  cornice;  and  at  the  four  corners  of  each  recess 
stand  smaller,  three-quarter  pillars,  supporting  its  individual 
cornice.  The  large  choir,  with  no  flanking  chapels,  is  sim- 
ilarly adorned  with  grey  stone  pillars  and  pilasters.  Though 
all  this  apparent  stonework  is  probably  naught  but  painted 
stucco,  yet  it  is  a  very  tasteful,  pleasing  edifice,  of  the  unde- 
bauched  period  of  the  early  Renaissance. 

Previtali's  masterpiece  I  found  immediately  over  the  first 


30  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

altar  to  left, —  an  Apotheosis  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  posed 
upon  a  stone  block  before  some  ruinous,  dark,  stone  build- 
ings on  each  hand,  between  which  is  visible  a  far  landscape  of 
beautiful  shades  of  brown  and  blue ;  while  four  other  saints, 
also  lifesize  —  Bartholomew,  Joseph,  Dominic  and  Nicholas 
of  Bari  —  stand  around  him  in  richly  coloured  garments. 
The  tone  of  old  gold,  the  sombrous,  dreamy  atmosphere,  the 
true  perspective,  all  complement  and  set  forth  these  natural, 
attractive  figures,  with  their  countenances  of  that  pure,  bliss- 
ful beauty  and  expressiveness  which  Previtali  could  so  per- 
fectly portray.  There  is  naught  of  the  vulgar,  and  no  hint 
of  earthly  joys,  in  his  holy  faces.  But  the  picture  has  been 
sadly  injured  by  time  and  retouching, —  the  latter  so  ex- 
cessive as  to  lend  it  almost  a  modern  sheen. 

Next  it  was  the  delicate  work  of  the  Milanese  Borgo- 
gnone,  Leonardo's  pupil,  who  spent  much  time  and  did  much 
painting  in  Bergamo ; —  and  who  can  help  being  captivated 
by  the  exquisite  contours  of  that  clever  brush,  which  often 
give  to  his  forms  such  supernal  beauty!  This  pala  is  in  five 
parts,  in  a  highly  carved  and  gilded,  renaissance  frame;  a 
God  the  Father  above,  the  Annunciation  at  its  sides,  the 
Descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the  large,  central,  arched 
compartment,  and  the  coupled  figures  of  Sts.  Augustine  and 
Francis  on  one  hand,  Sts.  Jerome  and  John  the  Baptist  on 
the  other.  The  figures  are  all  very  true  and  graceful,  St. 
Augustine  being  clad  in  a  magnificent,  gold-embroidered 
robe,  those  of  the  Annunciation  being  considerably  the  most 
attractive ;  but  the  large  central  tableau  is  the  most  effective, 
the  Madonna  being  enthroned  under  an  arched,  coffered 
ceiling,  surrounded  by  the  kneeling  and  standing  Apostles, 
all  looking  up  with  enraptured  awe  to  the  descending  fiery 
Dove.  This  was  once  very  highly  coloured,  with  much  gilt 
ornamentation  upon  the  achitectural  trimmings. 


BERGAMO  THE  LOWER  31 

Over  the  fifth  altar  to  left  was  a  pleasing  Madonna  be- 
tween two  saints,  with  a  very  lovely  angel  at  her  feet  read- 
ing a  book,  and  two  fluttering  cherubs  holding  a  curtain 
over  her  head, —  by  the  rare  Scipione  da  Lodi,  of  the  Piazza 
school;  a  work  of  much  excellence  in  nearly  all  respects, 
whose  brightly  tinted  forms  shone  boldly  from  the  dark 
tone  and  sombre  background.  Opposite  it  upon  the  right 
were  Previtali's  other  paintings,  joined  in  another  gorgeous 
renaissance  frame,  of  ten  compartments;  the  five  below,  a 
Madonna  and  four  saints,  being  by  the  master  entirely,  and 
the  five  above,  a  Resurrection  and  four  saints,  commenced  by 
him  but  finished  by  his  pupil  Caversegno.  All  displayed 
his  fine,  rich,  old  gold  tone,  and  a  wealth  of  Venetian  glow 
and  colouring. 

Next  them,  finally,  on  the  fourth  altar  to  right,  glittered 
Lotto's  glorious  canvas,  in  a  splendour  of  hues  paling  all  the 
ovhers :  about  the  throned  Madonna  stood  four  saints  to  right 
and  left;  at  her  foot  was  a  most  enchanting  little  St.  John 
playing  with  a  lamb,  pressing  its  head  lovingly  to  his  cheek, 
and  looking  out  with  a  happy  expression  of  playfulness ;  over- 
head extended  a  glory  of  bright  clouds  and  distant  angels, 
flying  in  every  direction,  yet  surrounding  the  Holy  Ghost 
in  a  semicircle,  while  a  crown  was  held  over  the  Virgin's 
head  by  two  lovely  cherubs.  It  is  a  picture  conveying  the 
greatest  pleasure,  transporting  the  observer  to  its  heavenly, 
idyllic  realm,  affecting  his  senses  with  its  exuberance  of 
colours.  "  Sparkling  as  it  were,  with  graces,  we  meet  with 
a  figure  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  "drawn  as  a  child, —  ex- 
pressing so  natural  and  lively  a  joy,  at  once  so  simple  and 
innocent,  with  a  smile  so  beautiful,  that  we  can  hardly 
believe  while  we  gaze  upon  it  that  Raffaele  or  Correggio 
could  have  gone  beyond  it.  Such  masterpieces  as  these,  with 
others  that  are  to  be  seen  at  Bergamo, —  place  him  (Lotto) 


32  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

almost  on  a  level  with  the  first  luminaries  of  the  art."  23 
The  second  of  the  three  churches  lay  halfway  up  Via 
Pignolo,  on  its  eastern  side, —  the  small,  Gothic  edifice  of 
S.  Bernardino;  it  was  of  painted  stucco,  with  pointed  win- 
dows, and  a  Gothic  frieze  along  the  gable.  Inside  was  a 
low,  short,  aisleless  nave  with  a  wooden,  painted  roof,  and 
six  Gothic  recesses  for  the  side-altars, — all  newly  restored. 
Over  the  second  altar  to  right  stood  its  alleged  Previtali,  a 
picture  of  the  Madonna  seated  in  a  high  carved  chair  within 
a  low,  heavy-beamed  chamber,  St.  Dominic  to  right  and 
St.  Jerome  to  left;  traces  remained  of  its  once  vivid  colour- 
ing, but  the  forms  and  faces  were  so  poorly  drawn,  almost 
grotesque,  that  they  could  not  have  been  executed  by  that 
master-hand.  If  Previtali  undertook  the  work  (in  1523,  it  is 
said,  two  years  before  his  death),  certainly  the  execution 
must  have  been  done  by  one  or  more  of  his  pupils. 

Next  this  was  a  graceful  quattrocento  canvas,  of  three 
lifesize  saints,  possessing  quaint,  primitive,  smoothly  rounded 
features,  and  much  gilded  as  to  the  emblems,  ornaments  and 
haloes.  I  asked  the  kindly  parroco,  who  now  came  up,  for 
the  name  of  its  author ;  he  did  not  know,  but  would  ascer- 
tain. Nothing  would  do  but  we  must  repair  to  his  rooms, 
close  by,  where  by  investigating  a  certain  record  he  found 
the  painter's  name, — ■  Giov.  Giacomo  Gavasio  da  Poscanthe. 
The  picture's  excellence  was  explained. 

The  high-altar-piece  of  S.  Bernardino  was  another  grand 
Lotto,  which  illumined  the  small  precincts  like  a  shaft  from 
heaven.  It  represented  the  wide  plain  of  Lombardy,  brown 
and  green,  arched  by  bluest  sky,  laden  with  heavy  summer 
air> — and  the  Madonna  seated  high,  holding  the  Child  erect 
upon  her  knee,  with  a  dark,  plush  curtain  held  by  angels  and 
putti  behind  and  above  her  head;  St.  John  and  three  other 

23  Lanzi's  "  History  of  Painting,"  Vol.  II. 


BERGAMO  THE  LOWER  33 

saints  stood  around,  and  at  her  foot  sat  another  angel  read- 
ing with  bent  back.  Again  the  grace  of  the  figures  and  group- 
ing was  fairly  voluptuous,  and  the  colouring  magnificent  as  a 
triumphant  paean,  centering  in  the  lovely  Virgin's  scarlet  robe. 
The  glow  of  the  tone  was  very  warm,  the  personages  were 
lifelike  and  yet  ideal.  "  What  strikes  us  most  in  the  Ma- 
donna of  S.  Bernardino  is  the  growing  tendency  to  adopt 
Correggiesque  form.  The  progress  of  Lotto  is  apparent,  not 
only  in  the  skilful  balance  and  harmonious  lines  of  a  perfect 
pyramidal  composition,  but  in  the  large  amount  of  force  he 
gives  to  colour  and  chiaroscuro."  2i 

The  third  church  was  near  the  northern  end  of  Via  Pig- 
nolo,  where  it  strikes  the  Via  Tommaso  —  running  northeast 
to  Borgo  S.  Caterina, —  still  upon  the  right  side  of  the  way. 
This  was  S.  Alessandro  della  Croce, —  to  reach  which  I 
passed  many  old  Renaissance  palaces,  on  each  hand,  con- 
taining handsome  courtyards.  The  ruinous  fagade  of  the 
church  was  covered  with  scaffolding,  for  renovation.  In- 
side I  found  a  renaissance  basilica,  with  transepts,  the  altars 
in  deep  recesses,  three  per  side,  the  floor  of  handsome  red, 
white  and  grey  marbles,  the  vaulting  stuccoed  and  ribbed, 
and  a  wealth  of  gilding  of  recent  date  upon  mouldings,  caps 
and  cornices. 

Over  the  main  entrance  hung  a  large  Moretto,  a  Coro- 
nation of  the  Virgin  in  his  pearly  tone  and  finish,  of  exceed- 
ing beauty, —  the  Father  and  Son  holding  a  crown  above 
the  Madonna's  head,  seated  upon  clouds,  with  many 
child-angels  flying  around.  Under  the  second  altar  to  right 
I  observed  a  marble  relief  of  the  Last  Supper  by  Fantone, 
with  some  very  good  figures  and  quite  realistic.  A  canvas 
by  Palma  Giovane,  the  Saviour  with  Sts.  Roch  and  Sebastian, 
hung  over  the  first  altar  next  the  ceiling.     In   the  highly 

24  Crowe  and  Cavalcasalle. 


34  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

carved,  modern,  walnut  pulpit  were  two  pieces  of  excellent 
tarsia,  by  Don  Luigi  Salvi.  Over  the  door  to  the  sacristy 
was  a  very  fine  Assumption  by  Jacopo  Bassano,  well  com- 
posed, executed  and  coloured,  of  much  feeling  and  dramatic, 
suspended  action.  Within  the  sacristy  appeared  several  good 
paintings:  a  risen  Christ  in  clouds,  by  Lotto,  a  Crucifixion 
by  Morone,  another  by  Previtali, —  containing  charming 
figures  of  much  lifelikeness,  grace  and  sentiment,  like  all  his 
small  pieces, —  a  full-length  form  of  S.  Niccolo  di  Bari  by 
Palma  Vecchio,  a  panel  of  the  Madonna  with  two  infants 
in  Palma's  style,  injured  but  still  pleasing,  another  panel 
of  the  Madonna  with  two  angels,  by  Gavasio  da  Poscanthe, 
very  aged  and  interesting,  with  his  customary  gilding,  and 
finally,  a  charming  lunette  of  Christ  crowning  the  Virgin  — ■ 
half-figures,  surrounded  by  little  angels  —  from  the  brush  of 
Francesco  da  Santa  Croce. 


CHAPTER  II 

BERGAMO  THE  UPPER 

"The  world  from  that  Alpine  shoulder 
Yearns  toward  the  Lombard  plain  — 
The  hearts  that  come,  with  rapture, 
The  hearts  that  go,  with  pain." 

R.   U.  Johnson. 

It  was  now  time  to  visit  the  ancient  city,  beckoning  from 
its  storied  hilltop;  and  the  next  morning  I  ascended  by  the 
funicolare  from  the  end  of  the  long  avenue  to  the  station. 
The  cable-car  mounted  the  steep  hillside  between  vineyards, 
plunged  into  a  tunnel  beneath  the  battlements,  and  stopped 
at  a  small  triangular  piazza  in  the  middle  of  the  southeastern 
ridge.  Tall  old  houses  of  five  and  six  stories  rose  closely 
roundabout,  with  mouldering  stuccoed  walls;  one  narrow 
street  led  to  right  along  the  battlements  —  Via  di  Porta 
Dipinta  —  another  led  in  the  opposite  direction,  and  a  third, 
Via  Gombito,  ran  straight  ahead  to  the  centre  of  the  town. 
Upon  a  house-wall  was  a  late  quattrocento  fresco  of  the 
Madonna,  under  a  canopy,  endowed  with  protruding  eye- 
balls and  a  puckered  mouth,  but  of  fair,  well-moulded  skin; 
and  a  little  angel  sat  at  her  feet,  playing  a  guitar. 

I  followed  the  Via  Gombito,  dark  and  confined  between 
similar  tall  old  dwellings,  with  tiny  shops  in  the  ground 
floors.  Here  was  none  of  the  desertedness  often  found  to- 
day in  Italian  hill-towns;  throngs  of  people  passed  busily 
to  and  fro,  and  gossiped  from  doorways;  —  it  was  the  main 
thoroughfare  of  the  upper  city.  A  lofty  square  tower  was 
noticeable  on  the  left,  built  of  huge  stone  blocks,  more  like  Ro- 

35 


36  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

man  workmanship  than  mediaeval.  Opposite  it  to  the  right 
opened  another  small  piazza,  in  which  I  was  directed  to  the 
old  palace  of  Bart.  Colleoni  which  he  devised  for  an  orphan 
asylum,  now  therefore  known  as  the  "  Luogo  Pio  Colleoni," 
—  or  Colleoni's  Pious  Place.  The  building  was  plain 
enough  externally;  but  inside,  upon  the  ground  floor,  lay 
one  of  the  most  delightful  early  renaissance  rooms  I  have 
ever  seen,  frescoed  from  end  to  end,  upon  every  wall  and  ceil- 
ing, in  a  manner  and  with  an  effect  quite  enchanting. 

It  was  of  Gothic  design,  but  the  decoration  was  thor- 
oughly Renaissance  in  its  joyous  richness,  reminding  me  of 
some  of  the  halls  of  the  Reggia  at  Mantua.  The  colours 
were  faded  out,  the  landscapes  blurred,  the  plaster  spotted 
with  damp  and  fallen  off  in  many  places;  yet  what  remained 
was  still  so  picturesque  and  pleasing  that  I  wondered  at  the 
thought  of  its  primary  brightness.  Every  wall,  above  a  van- 
ished low  wainscoting,  was  divided  into  several  square  com- 
partments, in  each  of  which  sat  a  throned  lifesize  divinity, 
of  quattrocento  quaintness'in  pose  and  contour,  backed  by 
a  dimmed  landscape  of  balanced  trees ;  over  each  rose  a 
pointed  lunette,  adorned  with  figures  and  designs;  the  span- 
drels between  the  latter  curved  gently  forward  to  the  ceil- 
ing, bearing  half-length  forms  of  saints  in  medallions,  sur- 
rounded with  putti  and  a  wealth  of  imagery ;  around  the  room 
above  them  ran  a  curving  frieze,  likewise  composed  of  putti, 
medallions  and  designs,  enclosing  the  central  square  of  the 
ceiling,  which  was  painted  in  imitation  of  coffered  wood- 
work. All  this  winsome  frescoing  was  the  labour  of 
Paxino  da  Nova,  assisted  —  as  some  say  —  by  a  number  of 
fellow-artists.  There  were  also  a  few  paintings  of  lesser 
worth,  including  a  portrait  of  Colleoni  himself  upon  his 
war-horse. 

Returning  to  the  Via  Gombito,  there  soon  opened  to  the 


BERGAMO  THE  UPPER  37 

west  a  piazza  so  striking,  so  picturesque,  that  few  of  its 
size  can  equal  it  as  a  picture  of  by-gone  days.  It  was 
the  Piazza  Garibaldi  (formerly  Maggiore)  the  centre  and 
heart  of  the  upper  city.  Via  Gombito  here  was  lined  with 
a  handsome,  white  granite  arcade,  whose  arches  sprang 
from  pilasters  separated  by  Doric  half-columns, —  a  renais- 
sance facing,  finished  to  the  height  of  one  story  only,  except 
at  the  northern  end  where  it  rose  two  divisions  higher ;  these 
were  adorned  respectively  with  Ionic  and  Corinthian  pilas- 
ters, and  crowned  by  an  open  balustrade,  with  statues. 
This  building  was  the  so-called  Palazzo  Nuovo,  designed 
by  Scamozzi;  and  indeed,  though  of  the  cinquecento,  it  was 
the  newest  thing  about  the  square.  From  it  the  piazza 
stretched  southwestward  to  the  opposite  Broletto,  rising 
upon  its  loggia  of  pointed  stone  arches,  dark,  grim  and  aged, 
—  the  very  antithesis  of  the  former.  The  loggia  was  three 
large  arches  wide,  and  somewhat  deeper;  in  the  upper  story 
were  two  fine,  triple,  Gothic  windows, —  at  the  sides,  recessed 
with  tracery, —  and  at  the  centre  was  a  broad  ringhiera  of 
Renaissance  days,  with  marble  frame  and  shafts,  below  a 
dark  stone  framework  holding  the  recent  inscription, — "  Bib- 
lioteca  della  Citta." 

To  right  of  the  Broletto  opened  another,  rounded  arch- 
way, leading  to  the  rear,  and  then,  in  the  very  corner, 
there  mounted  a  fascinating,  old,  outside  stairway,  with 
worn  stone  treads,  and  romanesque  columns  upholding  its 
tiled  roof;  while  directly  behind  it  soared  the  municipal 
tower  far  aloft,  built  of  rough  stone  blocks, —  to  a  two- 
storied  belfrey  of  unframed  arches.  The  buildings  on  the 
other  sides  were  plain  and  stuccoed,  although  that  upon  the 
Broletto's  left  carried  enormous  stucco  pilasters  and  heavy 
window-cornices.  The  pavement  of  the  piazza  was  genu- 
inely old-Italian,  of  bricks  laid  edgeways  with  thin  stripes 


38  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

of  white  stone,  like  a  diagonal  checkerboard;  and  at  its 
centre  rose  Bergamo's  handsome  monument  to  Garibaldi, 
whose  cloaked  bronze  figure  stood  upon  a  high  marble  pedes- 
tal, with  small  bronze  lions  at  the  angles  of  the  base. 

How  many  ages  were  reflected  in  this  old  piazza,  from 
the  Romanesque  epoch  of  its  tower  and  stairway,  when  the 
city  was  an  independent  republic,  arming  against  Barbarossa, 
to  the  Renaissance  Palazzo  Nuovo  of  Venetian  quietude 
and  art,  and  the  modern  whitewashed  cafe-building  upon  the 
right,  under  whose  awning  the  loungers  of  today  sipped 
their  syrups  at  little  tables.  Other  loungers  were  gathered 
in  groups  in  the  shade  of  the  loggia,  and  under  Scamozzi's 
dazzling  arcade;  the  sunlit  pavement  remained  deserted, 
save  for  an  occasional  hurrying  form.  It  was  of  just  such 
an  ancient,  central  piazza,  storied  in  every  stone,  murmuring 
with  gossip  and  business  in  its  shady  arcades,  that  Robert 
Browning  wrote  lovingly, — 

"  Had  I  but  plenty  of  money,  money  enough  and  to  spare, 

The  house  for  me,  no  doubt,  were   a  house  in  the  city-square; 

Ah,  such  a  life,  such  a  life,  as  one  leads  at  the  window  there !  — 

Houses  in  four  straight  lines,  not  a  single   front  awry; 

You  watch  who  crosses  and  gossips,  who  saunters,  who  hurries  by."  x 

What  a  grand  old  structure  was  this  Broletto,  how  simple 
yet  how  splendid,  nobler  than  all  the  other  buildings  in  its 
balanced,  graceful,  gothic  lines.  "  The  lesson  to  be  learnt 
from  such  a  building  —  appears  to  be  the  expressive  value 
of  simplicity  and  regularity  of  parts  carefully  and  con- 
structionally  treated;  for  there  are  no  breaks  nor  buttresses 
in  the  design,  and  all  its  elements  are  most  simple,  yet 
nevertheless  most  beautiful."  2 

Before   one  of  its  piers  stood   a  marble  statue;   and  on 

•1  Browning's  "Up  at  a  Villa  —  Down  in  the  City." 
2  Street's  "Brick  and  Marble  in  the  Middle  Ages," 


BERGAMO  THE  UPPER  39 

approaching  nearer  —  for  I  had  hitherto  remained  at  Via 
Gombito,  gazing  at  the  general  scene  —  I  found  it  to  rep- 
resent Torquato  Tasso,  clad  in  a  Roman  toga  and  laurel- 
crowned  ;  —  a  poor,  baroque  work,  but  significant  of  a 
proper  civic  spirit.  Then,  on  turning  my  eyes  from  the 
statue  to  the  loggia,  sights  flashed  suddenly  upon  them 
through  the  shadowy  archways  that  thrilled  me  with  amazed 
delight, —  that  in  an  instant  elevated  the  scene  to  a  beauty 
and  picturesqueness  many-fold  greater.  It  was  like  a  sud- 
den vision  of  fairyland,  glimpsed  through  the  rents  of  a  cloud. 
There,  behind  the  dark  arcades,  shining  in  the  sunlight  of  a 
hidden  courtyard,  rose  a  vast,  old,  gothic  church,  faced  by 
a  lofty  red  marble  porch  of  wondrous  delicacy  and  charm; 
beside  it  glistened  like  the  sun  itself  a  temple  of  white  and 
gay-hued  marbles,  enriched  with  sculpture  beyond  the  most 
fanciful  dreams, —  an  unreal  fantasy  whose  effect  was  height- 
ened by  these  partial  vistas,  which  called  for  the  imagination 
to  piece  them  out;  and  again,  to  right  of  this,  glittered  a 
romanesque,  octagonal  temple,  also  of  brightly  coloured  mar- 
bles and  adorned  profusely  with  sculpture,  of  an  exquisite 
beauty  that  complemented  the  impression.  The  whole  im- 
pression was  indescribable:  such  a  wealth  of  brilliancy  and 
artistic  splendour,  poured  through  the  dusky,  pointed  arch- 
ways of  the  old  Broletto  upon  the  wayfarer's  unsuspecting 
eyes, —  it  illumined  the  ancient  square  with  a  sudden  radi- 
ance whose  like  is  seldom  to  be  found. 

Yet  I  knew  these  buildings,  by  report,  and  understood 
now  the  reason  of  the  late  Mr.  Street's  artistic  enthusiasm 
over  this  strange  spot, —  sharing  his  admiration  for  the  archi- 
tectural effect  so  cleverly  obtained.  His  view,  however, 
was  limited  to  the  gothic  edifices, —  to  that  great  church  of 
S.  Maria  Maggiore  and  its  marvellous  porch,  which  he  said 
were  the  earliest  erections,  and  to  the  subsequent  Broletto, 


4o  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

which  the  architect,  "not  fearing  —  to  damage  what  has 
been  done  before,  boldly  throws  across  in  front  of  them, 
but  upon  lofty  open  arches,  through  which  glimpses  just 
obtained  of  the  beauties  in  store  beyond,  make  the  gazer 
even  more  delighted."  My  view  included  those  further 
erections,  of  the  Romanesque  and  the  Renaissance  eras, 
whose  scintillating  marbles  rioted  with  the  staid  gothic  in 
such  a  brilliant  opulence  of  hues  and  carvings.  That  next 
the  porch  was  Colleoni's  famous  mortuary  chapel,  constructed 
about  1480-90  for  his  tomb  and  monument;  that  on  the 
extreme  right  was  the  Baptistery,  which  until  recent  days  had 
stood  within  the  church. 

I  started  to  traverse  the  loggia,  between  its  heavy,  round, 
monolithic  columns,  with  doric  caps, —  quite  varied  from  the 
external  gothic  piers, —  but  was  obliged  to  stop  a  moment 
to  consider  its  decorative  points.  Under  the  archway  far- 
thest to  right,  in  a  round  frame,  hung  a  beautiful  cinque- 
cento  fresco,  the  Madonna  with  two  infants,  of  a  prom- 
inent blue  colour  in  the  Virgin's  gown  and  the  unclouded 
sky;  though  badly  retouched,  it  was  still  full  of  charm  and 
the  joy  of  life.  On  the  left  wall,  in  an  elaborate  frame  of 
black  and  white  marble,  hung  a  later,  seicento  relief,  of  the 
crowned  Madonna  and  Child.  The  flagged  floor  also  held 
a  long,  white  marble  strip,  clearly  representing  the  meridian, 
and  still  wet  from  the  night's  rain,  upon  which  a  file  of  boys 
were  madly  sliding  with  deafening  shouts,  as  though  it  were 
a  sheet  of  ice. 

Emerging  from  the  loggia,  I  stood  in  the  narrow  court- 
yard, feeling  my  attention  drawn  first  and  irresistibly  to  the 
glistening  Cappella  Colleoni;  though  of  the  least  importance 
in  architectural  merit,  what  eye  but  Mr.  Street's  could  look 
away  from  a  structure  so  inconceivably  gorgeous!  It  is  a 
genuine    composite    of    marble    rainbows;    so    intricate    and 


THE    PORCH    OF    S.    MARIA    MAGGIORE,    BERGAMO 


BERGAMO  THE  UPPER  41 

varied  are  its  lines,  that  every  successive  literary  traveller 
has  resigned  in  despair  any  attempt  at  its  description.  Yet 
it  is  not  a  large  building,  and  its  main  features  are  simply 
told:  a  round-arched,  single  doorway  in  a  classic  frame,  two 
rectangular  windows  at  the  sides,  in  the  most  elaborate 
frames  probably  ever  constructed,  a  rose  window  above,  a 
delicate  arcaded  gallery  beneath  the  cornice,  an  octagonal 
drum,  and  a  lofty  dome.  And  this  tells  nothing ;  it  can  give 
no  idea  of  the  overwhelming  mass  of  decoration  that  dazzles 
the  conception. 

"  The  Cappella  Colleoni  —  that  masterpiece  of  the  sculptor- 
architects'  craft,  with  its  variegated  marbles, —  rosy  and  white 
and  creamy  yellow  and  jet-black  —  in  patterns,  bas-reliefs, 
pilasters,  statuettes,  encrusted  on  the  fanciful  domed  shrine! 
Upon  the  facade  are  mingled,  in  the  true  Renaissance  spirit 
of  genial  acceptance,  motives  Christian  and  pagan,  with 
supreme  impartiality.  Medallions  of  emperors  and  gods 
alternate  with  virtues,  angels,  and  cupids  in  a  maze  of  love- 
liest arabesque;  and  round  the  base  of  the  building  are  told 
two  stories, —  the  one  of  Adam  from  his  creation  to  his  fall, 
the  other  of  Hercules  and  his  labourers, —  the  spirit  of 
Humanism,  bent  ever  on  harmonising  the  two  great  tradi- 
tions of  the  past.  Of  the  workmanship  little  need  be  said, 
except  that  it  is  wholly  Lombard,  distinguished  from  the 
similar  work  of  Delia  Quercia  at  Bologna  and  Siena  by  a 
more  imperfect  feeling  for  composition  and  a  lack  of  monu- 
mental gravity,  yet  graceful,  rich  in  motives,  and  instinct 
with  a  certain  wayward  improvisat or ^-charm."  3  Giovanni 
Antonio  Amadeo,  the  most  celebrated  sculptor  of  the  Milan- 
ese school,  was  this  artist  who  painted  and  sang  so  divinely 
in  marble,  with  so  little  care  or  comprehension  of  form  and 
mass. 

3  J.   A.   Symonds'   "  Sketches  and  Studies  in   Italy." 


42  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

The  adjacent  Baptistery,  though  as  fresh,  as  vivid,  and 
almost  as  classical  as  the  chapel,  is  a  trecento  product  of  the 
transition  from  romanesque  to  gothic,  and  was  but  recently 
brought  forth  piecemeal  from  the  church  to  be  re-erected 
on  this  vacant  plot,  where  its  effect  in  the  sunlight  is  incom- 
parably finer.  One  does  not  notice  that  it  is  but  half  the 
height  of  the  chapel;  the  close  confinement  of  all  the  build- 
ings prevents  such  a  comparison.  One  notices  only  that  it 
is  a  "  gem  of  purest  ray  serene,"  a  happy  superior  to  its 
neighbour  in  quiet  dignity  and  harmony  of  design.  Octag- 
onal in  shape,  the  basement  of  light  grey  stone  has  not  a 
break  except  in  the  round-arched  portal,  recessed  with  dainty 
red  and  white  mouldings ;  the  second  division  is  a  continuous 
colonnade  of  slender  red  and  grey  shafts,  with  curious  double 
capitals,  and  elongated  statues  set  in  niches  at  the  angles; 
the  frieze  is  arcaded  trefoil,  the  grey  cornice  is  delicately 
cut  upon  the  edges;  each  ridge  of  the  octagonal  pointed  roof 
carries  another  statue  of  a  saint,  and  from  the  ball  of  the 
shapely  lantern  springs  a  fairylike  angel.  Behind  it  rises 
a  joyous  background  like  a  painting, —  a  hillside  of  private 
gardens,  blooming  with  vines,  pergolas,  shrubberies  and 
flowers.  Handsome,  modern,  iron  railings  separate  both 
this  building  and  its  neighbour  from  the  open,  and  are  sur- 
mounted by  other  statues. 

As  the  Baptistery  closed  one  end  of  the  narrow  court,  so 
I  now  found,  upon  turning  my  eyes  to  the  left,  another  light 
and  glistening  edifice  closing  that  end,  looking  down  upon 
the  little  temple  with  a  huge  domed  mass  many  times  its 
size.  This  would  be  an  entire  surprise  to  an  unprepared 
traveller,  for  the  structure  is  quite  hidden  from  the  piazza. 
It  is  the  Cathedral,  built  by  Scamozzi  in  1614,  and  inferior 
in  every  way  to  S.  Maria  Maggiore.     Its  white  stone  facade, 


BERGAMO  THE  UPPER  43 

rising  upon  steps,  in  two  divisions,  is  a  fairly  handsome  and 
imposing  Renaissance  work,  which,  however,  appears  plain 
beside  the  others.  A  single-storied,  projecting  portico  of 
three  arches  covers  the  portals,  topped  by  domes  and  statu- 
ary; the  single  large  window  above  is  in  the  form  of  a 
loggia,  with  two  heavy  columns;  at  its  sides  are  two  ornate 
niches  containing  statues,  and  above  the  classic  pediment 
soars  the  shapely  dome  that  I  had  beheld  from  the  plain  be- 
low. 

Finally  I  turned  my  attention  to  the  greater  church,  and 
its  wonderful  porch,  which  Street  and  so  many  other  critics 
have  extolled.  It  rests  against  the  aged  dark  stones  of  the 
building's  left  transept,  in  the  angle  formed  by  the  project- 
ing Cappella  Colleoni.  The  mass  of  the  edifice  was  erected 
in  Romanesque  days,  about  1140,  but  this  and  the  corre- 
sponding porch  upon  the  southern  side  were  the  work  of  that 
Giov.  da  Campione  who  constructed  the  Baptistery,  in  the 
14th  century.  Upon  the  customary  steps  two  slender,  red 
marble  columns  rise  from  crouching  lions,  to  support  a 
rounded  arch  adorned  with  a  series  of  exquisite  open-work 
pendants;  to  the  beasts  are  attached  a  number  of  strange 
little  figures,  once  human  in  shape  but  now  worn  to  mere 
lumps  of  marble,  engaged  in  clambering  over  their  backs 
and  sides, —  one  of  them  laughably  engaged  in  pulling  out 
his  lion's  tongue;  upon  the  uncorniced  platform  over  the  arch 
rise  four  shorter  columns,  straight  and  spiral,  upholding 
three  trefoil  arches,  of  which  the  central  is  slightly  taller; 
and  the  armed  S.  Alessandro  sits  his  horse  in  the  middle, 
with  a  standing  saint  upon  each  side.  So  far  all  the  con- 
struction is  of  red  Verona  marble,  except  the  pendants  and 
the  three  trefoil  arches,  which  are  grey;  and  here  the  pyra- 
mid is  completed  by  a  third  division,  entirely  of  grey  mar- 


44  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY  , 

ble, —  a  two-columned  canopy,  surmounting  the  middle  tre- 
foil, containing  a  seated  Madonna  with  two  saints,  and 
capped  by  a  plain,  angular  spire. 

"  The  space  at  the  back  of  the  open  divisions,  and  the  wall 
over  the  main  arch  of  the  porch,  are  built  in  courses  of  red 
and  white  marble.  All  the  groining  is  divided  into  diamond- 
shaped  panels,  composed  alternately  of  black,  red  and  white 
marble,  and  all  the  cusping,  of  grey.  The  construction  of 
the  whole  is  very  weak,  and  depends  altogether  for  its  sta- 
bility upon  iron  ties  in  every  direction.  The  approach  to 
the  porch,  by  seven  steps  formed  alternately  of  black  and 
white  marble,  increases  the  impressiveness  of  the  grand  door- 
way in  front  of  which  it  is  built,  the  whole  of  which  is  of 
whitish  marble,  whose  carved  surfaces  and  rich  moulded 
and  traceried  work  have  obtained  a  soft  yellow  colour  by 
their  exposure  to  the  changing  atmosphere,  and  are  relieved 
by  one  —  the  central  shaft  —  being  executed  in  purest  red 
marble.  There  are  three  shafts  in  each  jamb,  carved, 
twisted,  and  moulded  very  beautifully.  These  shafts  are 
set  in  square  recesses,  ornamented,  not  with  mouldings, 
but  with  elaborate  flat  carvings,  in  one  place  of  saints,  in  an- 
other of  animals,  and  with  foliage  very  flat  in  character, 
and  mainly  founded  upon  the  acanthus. —  Such  a  porch  is 
indeed  a  great  treat  —  teeming  as  it  does  with  ideas  so  fresh 
and  new, —  offering  so  beautiful  a  study  of  constructional 
colouring  that  it  is  impossible  to  tire  of  gazing  at  it."  4 

It  was  of  this  very  porch,  perhaps,  as  seen  through  the 
dusky  arcades  of  the  Broletto,  that  Tennyson  wrote,  upon 
one  of  those  wintry,  rainy  days  that  accompanied  his  unsea- 
sonable visit  and  darkened  with  dreariness  every  scene: 

"And  stern  and  sad   (so  rare  the  smiles 
Of  sunlight)    looked  the  Lombard  piles, 

4  Street's  "  Brick  and  Marble  Architecture  in  the  Middle  Ages." 


BERGAMO  THE  UPPER  45 

Porch-pillars  on  the  lion  resting, 
And   sombre  old  colonnaded  aisles." 

Walking  to  left  beyond  the  transept,  the  romanesque  style 
of  the  church  itself  became  quickly  manifest,  in  a  chapel- 
apse  adorned  with  Lombard  pilaster-strips  and  a  charming 
upper  colonnade  of  detached  shafts.  Beside  it  was  another 
entrance,  and  far  above  I  saw  the  campanile  rising,  to  a  bel- 
fry of  double  white  arches.  Here  the  court  ended  in  a 
narrow  passage  between  the  side  of  the  Cathedral  and  the 
choir  of  the  church;  following  it,  I  found  the  great  apse 
of  the  latter  decorated  with  similar  romanesque  pilasters  and 
colonnade,  in  fine  grey  stone,  and  most  effective.  The  way 
led  me  around  to  the  south  transept,  where  Campione's 
other  porch  crowned  the  portal,  somewhat  similar  in  con- 
struction to  the  northern  but  considerably  more  simple.5  I 
entered  the  church  by  it, —  and  stood  appalled  in  the  im- 
mense, dusky  interior. 

It  had  been  entirely  restored  in  a  vicious  baroque  manner, 
painful  to  contemplate,  which  quite  spoiled  the  original  im- 
pressive proportions  of  the  lofty  vaulted  nave,  the  broad 
aisles,  the  extensive  transept,  and  wide,  deep  choir.  The 
two-storied,  hexagonal,  romanesque  dome,  however*  still 
soared  grandly  over  the  centre.  The  choir  was  elevated 
three  steps,  faced  by  a  splendid  wooden  screen  crowned  by 
a  trecento  crucifixion,  and  was  backed  by  the  five  round- 
arched  windows  of  its  noble  apse.  The  only  chapels  opened 
from  the  transepts,  on  the  choir's  right  and  left  hand,  four  in 
number.  The  pillars  were  sheathed  in  fluted  marble;  and 
everywhere  above  the  side  arches,  on  soffits,  spandrels,  lun- 
ettes, upper-walls,  vaulting  and  dome,  was  spread  a  vast 
mass  of  stucco  decoration,  upon  gilded  background  and  with 
gilded    trimmings,    horrible    to   behold.     These    same   walls 

5  For  a   further  description  of  this  porch,  see  page   55. 


46  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

were  once  adorned  with  beautiful  frescoes  of  saintly  beings 
by  Paxino  da  Nova;  but  nothing  remains  of  them  save  a  few 
meaningless  fragments  behind  the  tapestry  of  the  left 
transept. 

These  old  tapestries,  in  fact,  not  only  hide  the  ruined 
frescoes  and  greatly  compensate  for  the  baroque  horrors, 
but  are  so  numerous  and  so  fine  as  to  make  the  place  look 
somewhat  like  the  hall  of  a  mediaeval  castle.  One  of  the 
largest  and  best  hangs  on  the  front  wall,  Flemish  work  of 
the  1 8th  century,  representing  a  huge  Crucifixion;  over  it  is 
a  large  canvas  by  Luca  Giordano,  a  Crossing  of  the  Red  Sea, 
of  effective  chiaroscuro  and  considerable  dramatic  power. 
On  the  walls  to  right  and  left  hang  excellent  Florentine 
cinquecento  tapestries,  and  from  the  railings  of  the  music 
balconies  above  the  choir  depend  two  rare  quattrocento 
pieces  of  the  same  school.  Near  these,  affixed  to  the  pillars 
flanking  the  choir,  are  twin  renaissance  pulpits,  looking  down 
the  nave,  of  very  handsome  design  in  black  and  white  mar- 
bles, and  carrying  upon  their  steps  two  beautiful  bronze 
railings  of  Hungarian  seicento  work. 

There  are  three  interesting  tombs,  located  together  in  the 
first  bay  of  the  right  aisle:  one  is  Donizetti's, —  a  marble 
pedestal  against  the  pillar,  cut  with  enchanting  reliefs  of 
puti'i  weeping  and  breaking  their  lyres  in  excess  of  grief, 
and  bearing  a  noble  figure  of  the  mourning  muse;  the  second, 
opposite,  against  the  front  wall,  is  also  modern,  and  raised  for 
another  of  Bergamo's  musical  geniuses,  Giov.  Simone  Mayr, — 
representing  in  marble  a  group  of  three  lovely  singing  angels; 
the  third,  upon  the  right  wall,  is  that  of  Cardinal  Longo 
degli  Alessandri,  executed  originally  by  Ugo  da  Campione 
in  the  early  trecento,  and  lately  much  restored.  Its  praises 
are  deservedly  sung.  The  sarcophagus  is  supported  upon 
mediaeval  lions,  and  at  the  four  corners  about  its  recumbent 


BERGAMO  THE  UPPER  47 

prelate  stand  two  little  angels  and  two  acolytes,  while  the 
canopy  above  them  rests  on  slim  columns  upheld  by  two  sep- 
arate, crouching  figures  of  old  men ;  —  a  delightful  gothic 
design,  well  executed  in  grey  marble. 

Besides  Giordano's  there  is  but  one  painting  worth  men- 
tion, the  Christ  in  Glory  of  Antonio  Boselli,  in  the  chapel  to 
right  of  the  choir, —  a  curious,  primitive  panel,  showing  the 
Saviour  in  a  vesica  piscis  amidst  throngs  of  angels,  with  a 
confused  crowd  of  struggling  saints  below.  Another  17th 
century  Hungarian  work  is  the  series  of  six  bronze  candel- 
abra, large  and  handsome,  that  extend  across  the  front  of 
the  choir. —  But  dwarfing  all  else  in  beauty  and  interest  is 
the  unsurpassed  tarsiatura? — the  chefs  d'oeuvre  of  the  Ber- 
gamasque  school. 

First  and  foremost  are  the  four  panels  upon  the  front  of 
the  choir-screen,  which  have  rightly  the  leading  place  in  their 
art.  These  wonderful,  large  scenes  were  executed  by  Fra 
Damiano  himself,  from  the  designs  of  Lotto ;  and  I  felt 
at  the  first  glance  that  there  was  naught  to  be  seen  like  them 
anywhere.  Here  again  was  the  portrayal  of  human  figures, 
in  animated,  dramatic  tableaux  of  historical  import,  against 
striking  backgrounds  of  much  diversity  and  perspective, — 
figures  thoroughly  well  modelled,  posed  and  grouped,  such 
as  that  great  inlayer  alone  could  execute.  On  tb  eft  of 
the  middle  entrance  were  the  Ark  upon  the  Flood  and  the 
Crossing  of  the  Red  Sea;  on  the  right,  David  meeting 
Goliath,  and  Judith  with  the  head  of  Holofernes, —  the  last 
a  marvellous  scene,  whose  terrible  tragedy  is  clearly  expressed 
in  the  awe-struck  women,  Judith  and  her  maid,  slinking 
from  the  warrior's  tent,  and  putting  into  a  bag  the  grew- 
some  human  relic,  while  behind  them  in  weird  contrast 
stretches  afar  the  moonlit  countryside,  occupied  by  the  sleep- 
>ng  army. 


48  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

The  choir-stalls,  though  not  so  entirely  exceptional,  are 
also  of  great  superiority.  Every  back  is  closed  with  a  sep- 
arate, locked  panel,  all  of  which  the  sacristan  slowly  re- 
moved for  my  inspection.  The  varied  scenes  are  entirely 
from  the  New  Testament, —  executed  by  Fran.  Capodiferro, 
in  1520—32;  the  rest  of  the  inlaid  decorations  were  by  Giov. 
Belli.  Once  more  I  beheld  tarsia  of  the  effectiveness  of 
painting,  with  atmosphere,  expressiveness,  and  human  forms 
of  extraordinary  lifelikeness  and  grace,  engaged  in  strong 
dramatic  tableaux.  How  inconceivable  that  the  mere  grain- 
ing and  colours  of  wood  could  be  so  far  carried !  The  veri- 
est tyro  in  art-study  cannot  fail  of  impression  here. 

One  more  masterpiece  remained  to  surprise  me, —  this 
time  of  the  silversmith's  work.  The  sacristan  took  me  into 
the  large  sacristy  to  left  of  the  choir,  opened  a  stout  cupboard 
with  several  doors  and  half-a-dozen  different  locks, —  and 
there  blazed  upon  my  eyes  in  sudden  brilliance  a  great  silver 
cross,  one  metre  high  and  nearly  as  wide,  laden  with  a 
wealth  of  decoration  as  refined  as  it  was  profuse.  It  was 
the  celebrated  Bergamo  Cross,  of  the  trecento, —  of  that 
superb  gothic  workmanship  which  has  left  us  not  more  than 
a  dozen  such  supreme  examples,  in  various  cities  of  the  pen- 
insula. At  the  broadened  tips  of  the  three  upper  arms,  and 
affixed  just  above  the  base,  were  four  half-figures,  of  the 
Madonna,  the  Magdalen,  the  Baptist,  and  St.  John  the 
Evangelist;  at  the  centie,  originally  adorned  with  a  precious 
medallion  that  has  long  disappeared,  reposed  a  strongly  mod- 
elled crucifix  of  the  cinquecento;  these  and  the  lesser  decora- 
tions were  all  of  silver;  and  the  base,  of  the  same  material, 
represented  a  miniature,  swelling  temple,  of  domed,  oriental 
form.  Upon  the  back,  the  four  arms  bore  the  symbols  of 
the  evangelists,  with  the  exception  of  a  lamb  in  place  of  that 
of  St.  Matthew;  and  its  centre  held  an  image  of  God  the 


BERGAMO  THE  UPPER  49 

Father.  Everything  was  elegantly  executed,  with  a  fidelity 
to  nature,  a  shapeliness,  and  sense  of  proportions,  such  that 
I  could  hardly  at  first  believe  it  a  work  of  the  trecento. 
There  were  also  shown  me  a  few  things  of  far  less  impor- 
tance, including  some  specimens  of  niello  ware. 

Lunch-time  had  already  passed;  so  I  resorted  to  the  cafe 
in  the  piazza,  partook  hurriedly  of  some  light  refreshment, 
and  returned  to  inspect  the  interior  of  Cappella  Colleoni. 
In  it,  as  Symonds  says,  "  we  learn  to  know  Antonio  Amadeo, 
not  only  as  an  enthusiastic  cultivator  of  the  mingled  Chris- 
tian and  pagan  quattrocento,  but  as  an  artist,  in  the  truest 
sense  of  the  word,  sympathetic."6  Living  from  1447  to 
1522,  entering  upon  his  work  at  the  time  when  Filarete 
and  Michelozzo  had  at  last  succeeded  in  overcoming  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Lombard  gothic  and  introducing  the  Floren- 
tine style  of  the  early  Renaissance,  he  was  one  of  that  great 
quintet  of  sculptor-architects  (including  Solari,  Rodari  and 
the  brothers  Mantegazza,  and  himself  perhaps  the  greatest 
of  them  all)  who  turned  Milan  into  a  city  beautiful,  and 
spread  their  brilliant  works  over  all  northern  Italy.  Of 
their  numerous  masterpieces,  easily  the  pre-eminent  are  the 
Certosa  di  Pavia  —  where  Amadeo  shines  with  unsurpass- 
able splendour  —  the  Cathedral  of  Como,  and  this  same 
Chapel  of  the  Colleoni. 

Through  the  single  doorway  I  entered  a  square,  lofty 
chamber,  domed  at  an  imposing  height,  brightly  lighted  by 
the  round  window  above  the  entrance  and  the  oblong  ones 
beside  it,  and  having  a  recess  in  the  right  side,  containing 
the  altar.  The  famous  monument  of  Colleoni  faced  the  in- 
gress, about  15  feet  wide  and  fully  40  feet  high,  occupying 
most  of  the  rear  wall,  and  looming  overhead  with  its  eques- 
trian bronze  statue  in  splendid  effectiveness.     On   the   left 

6  J.  A.  Symonds'  "  Fine  Arts,"  Chap.  III. 


50  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

wall  stood  the  smaller,  more  delicate,  and  more  exquisite 
monument  of  his  daughter  Medea.  Both  were  of  glistening 
white  marble,  and  the  walls  gleamed  everywhere  with  whit- 
ened stucco  painted  in  soft  grisaille,  except  for  the  huge  de- 
cadent canvases  in  heavy  baroque  frames  next  the  cornice, 
and  the  pictures  occupying  the  lofty  lunettes  beneath  the 
dome.  Three  of  these  last  were  by  G.  B.  Tiepolo, —  St. 
John  preaching,  baptising  Christ,  and  suffering  decapitation, 
—  of  a  treatment  that  succeeded  only  in  mocking  the  sacred 
subjects.  The  marbled  floor  of  different  hues,  the  bedizened 
altar,  the  dark  wood  seats  and  doors,  the  greyish  baroque 
reliefs  above  the  latter,  the  gilding  of  the  mouldings  and 
other  architectural  trimmings,  as  well  as  of  Colleoni's  bronze 
statue  itself, —  all  conjoined  in  a  glow  of  colour  that  at  once 
gave  opulence  to  the  scene  and  set  forth  the  pure,  untinted 
monuments. 

The  figures  of  the  condottiere  and  his  warhorse  were  mod- 
elled by  Sixtus  Siry  of  Nuremburg  in  1 50 1  ;  all  the  rest 
of  the  tombs  was  Amadeo's  work,  as  well  as  the  chapel  it- 
self,—  which  however  had  been  considerably  altered  by  the 
unfortunate  addition  of  the  baroque  reliefs,  pictures,  gild- 
ings, etc.,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  18th.  century.  Originally 
it  must  have  been  much  simpler  and  more  pleasing.  The 
chief  monument  rises  against  the  rear  wall  in  three  divisions. 
The  first  is  a  large  rectangular  coffer,  thrice  as  long  as  it  is 
high,  supported  on  four  slender,  fluted,  corinthian  pillars, 
from  the  bases  of  which  project  lions'  heads  and  forepaws; 
along  the  lower  edge  of  the  coffer,  runs  a  delightful  frieze  of 
amorini  playing  with  medallions,  surmounted  by  a  cornice; 
and  above  the  cornice  it  is  divided  by  four  statuettes  of  Vir- 
tues into  three  compartments  of  dainty  reliefs,  portraying  in  a 
strangely  fascinating  and  graceful  style  such  sombre  subjects 
as  the  Bearing  the  Cross,  the  Crucifixion,  and  the  Pieta. 


BERGAMO  THE  UPPER  51 

From  the  middle  of  its  top  rises  the  second  division,  the 
sarcophagus  itself,  upon  three  fanciful  pillars;  it  is  faced 
with  three  more  scenes  in  relief, —  the  Nativity,  Annuncia- 
tion, and  Visit  of  the  Magi,  of  slightly  larger  figures  but 
likewise  delicate  and  pleasing;  by  its  pillars  are  three  curious 
seated  statues  of  antique  garb,  said  to  represent  Colleoni's 
three  sons-in-law,  and  beside  them,  at  the  upper  corners  of 
the  base,  stand  two  Roman  warriors,  Mars  and  Hercules, 
before  the  tall  corinthian  columns  which  uphold  the  lofty 
canopy.  This  canopy  consists  of  a  rounded  arch  and  simple 
entablature,  with  Roman  medallions  in  its  spandrels;  and  it 
covers,  not  only  the  gilt  equestrian  figure,  which  is  stiff, 
crude  and  ill-proportioned,  but  also  the  two  marble  nymphs 
standing  beside  the  latter, —  said  by  some  to  represent  Colle- 
oni's daughters.  The  mixture  of  Christian  and  pagan  im- 
agery is  thus  complete,  but  not  so  noticeable  as  might  seem; 
for  the  eye  is  mainly  captivated  by  the  brilliant  series  of  re- 
liefs, whose  glistening  loveliness,  joined  with  the  slender 
grace  of  the  construction,  are  the  pre-eminent  factors  in  the 
effect. 

The  tomb  of  Medea  upon  the  left  consists  only  of  a  sar- 
cophagus in  a  shallow  rectangular  recess,  some  8  feet  wide 
by  15  high,  framed  by  corinthian  pilasters  cut  with  exquisite 
arabesques,  having  its  drooping  marble  curtains  drawn  up 
and  fastened  at  the  upper  corners,  and  surmounted  by  a 
sort  of  pediment  made  of  a  wreath  of  holly  flanked  by  doves. 
The  sarcophagus  rests  upon  three  winged  heads  of  putti;  its 
face  is  divided  by  fluted  pilasters  into  the  customary  three 
compartments,  which  here  contain  but  a  half-figure  of  Christ 
in  the  centre  and  wreathed  insignia  at  the  sides ;  upon  its  top 
lies  the  maiden's  quietly  gowned  form;  and  from  the  tessel- 
lated, black  and  white  wall  above  it,  project  three  small  re- 
lieved figures, —  the  Madonna  with  two  female  saints,  re- 


52  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

spectively  seated  and  kneeling,  upon  a  tablet  with  a  Latin 
inscription. 

But  small  and  simple  as  this  tomb  is,  beside  the  other, 
it  is  far  more  quiet,  dignified,  and  symmetrical,  in  much 
better  taste  and  feeling,  and  has  been  deservedly  lauded  by 
generations  of  critics  as  one  of  Amadeo's  most  perfect  works. 
"  Far  more  noteworthy,"  said  J.  A.  Symonds,  "  than  Colle- 
oni's  own  monument  is  that  of  his  daughter  Medea.  She 
died  young,  in  1470,  and  her  father  caused  her  tomb,  carved 
of  Carrara  marble,  to  be  placed  in  the  Dominican  church  of 
Basella,  which  he  had  previously  founded.  It  was  not  until 
1842  that  this  most  precious  masterpiece  of  Antonio  Ama- 
deo's skill  was  transferred  to  Bergamo. — '  Hie  jacet  Medea 
virgo.' —  Her  hands  are  clasped  across  her  breast.  A  robe 
of  rich  brocade,  gathered  to  the  waist  and  girdled,  lies  in 
simple  folds  upon  the  bier.  Her  throat,  exceedingly  long 
and  slender,  is  circled  with  a  string  of  pearls.  Her  face  is 
not  beautiful  —  but  it  is  pure,  and  expressive  of  vivid  indi- 
viduality. The  hair  curls  in  crisp,  short  clusters,  and  the 
ear,  fine  and  shaped  almost  like  a  faun's,  reveals  the  scrupu- 
lous fidelity  of  the  sculptor.  Italian  art,  has,  in  truth,  noth- 
ing more  exquisite  than  this  still  sleeping  figure  of  the  girl, 
who,  when  she  lived,  must  certainly  have  been  so  rare  of 
type  and  loveable  in  personality."7  And  again:  "The 
sensibility  to  loveliness  so  delicate,  and  the  power  to  render 
it  in  marble  with  so  ethereal  a  touch  upon  the  rigid  stone, 
belong  to  the  sculptor,  and  win  for  him  our  worship."  8 

Under  this  tomb  I  observed  another  example  of  the  special 
Bergamasque  art, —  three  fine  tarsia  panels,  of  Old  Testa- 
ment scenes,  exhibiting  many  lifelike  figures  in  spirited  action  ; 
they  were  a  late  work,   executed  by  Giov.   Batt.   Caniana 

7  J.  A.  Symonds'  "  Sketches  and  Studies  in  Italy." 

8  J.  A.  Symonds'  "  Fine  Arts,"  Chap.  III. 


BERGAMO  THE  UPPER  53 

toward  the  end  of  the  seicento,  and  are  therefore  surprisingly 
excellent.  In  the  altar-recesses  I  noticed  four  other  panels 
by  the  same  hand,  almost  equally  good.  Upon  the  altar 
stood  three  cinquecento  statues  of  saints,  of  a  noble  sim- 
plicity; and  near  it,  upon  the  wall,  hung  Angelica  Kauf- 
mann's  beautiful  canvas  (1785)  of  the  Holy  Family  with 
the  infant  St.  John, —  a  warmly  toned,  glowing,  happily 
conceived  work,  of  much  tenderness,  with  skilful  effects  of 
light  and  colour;  both  the  children  being  enchantingly  lovely, 
and  one  of  them  prettily  engaged  in  feeding  a  lamb  from  a 
saucer. 

The  interior  of  the  Baptistery  proved  to  be  of  no  interest, 
containing  only  some  early  reliefs  of  the  Passion,  of  little 
value.  I  crossed  to  the  Duomo,  where  half-a-dozen  beggars 
crouched  upon  the  steps  and  around  the  one  open  entrance, — 
forms  hideous  with  rags,  disease  and  deformities,  holding  out 
eager  claws  to  the  passing  worshippers.  Every  one  knows 
that  these  beings  found  at  church-doors  are  practically  li- 
censed by  the  ecclesiastical  authorities,  who  permit  certain  of 
them  to  seek  alms  there,  while  the  rest  are  driven  away; 
every  one  also  knows  that  they  have  made  begging  a  profes- 
sion, that  they  exaggerate  their  infirmities,  keep  open  their 
sores,  and  assume  the  filthiest  of  tatters  while  they  have 
excellent  clothes  at  home.  Yet  their  palms  are  regularly 
filled  by  the  devout  Italians,  who  would  fear  to  pass  by  them 
to  service  without  dispensing  a  soldo  in  charity.  They  look 
upon  the  subject  in  a  very  different  light  from  the  Anglo- 
Saxon's  wrath  with  laziness  and  imposture.  To  them  it  is  a 
matter  of  their  religion;  as  they  are  commanded,  they  give 
alms,  for  the  salvation  of  their  souls,  with  little  regard  to  the 
merit  of  the  object, —  which  is  especially  considered  neces- 
sary, when  going  to  service  of  mass  or  confession. 

They  also  enjoy  giving;  Italians  are  by  nature  the  most 


54  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

charitable  people  of  the  world;  no  country  can  compare 
with  theirs  in  the  number  of  eleemosynary  institutions,  in 
the  number  of  the  sick,  the  afflicted,  and  the  mendicant  sup- 
ported,—  maintained  by  the  gifts  of  the  poor  as  much  as 
by  those  of  the  rich.  Travellers  are  utterly  mistaken  when 
they  imagine  that  beggars  exist  through  the  credulous  sym- 
pathy of  foreigners ;  foreigners  give  very  little,  almost  nothing ; 
— it  is  the  generosity  of  the  natives.  Baretti  noticed  this 
curious  error  a  century  and  a  half  ago:  "  Amongst  the  gen- 
eral characteristics  of  Italians,  no  travel-writer  has  ever  been 
so  sagacious  or  so  generous  as  to  observe  that  charity  is  one  of 
the  most  conspicuous, —  that  charity  which  is  Christianly 
termed  universal  love,  and  liberality  to  the  necessitous.  To 
be  convinced  that  I  do  not  attribute  this  glorious  character- 
istic to  my  countrymen  out  of  a  blind  partiality,  the  reader 
needs  only  to  be  apprised,  that  no  country  whatsoever 
abounds  so  much  in  hospitals  as  Italy."  9 

The  Cathedral,  enormous  as  it  is,  has  but  two  artistic 
treasures;  —  but  they  are  worth  an  ordinary  score.  It  is 
a  wide,  lofty  basilica,  with  transept  and  dome,  a  semicircular 
choir,  and  gilt  arabesques  over  all  the  walls,  the  vaulting, 
and  the  drum, —  producing  an  ugly,  gaudy  effect  upon  the 
white  stucco.  Scamozzi  was  responsible  for  these  spacious, 
classical  proportions,  but  the  "  gingerbread  gilding "  must 
have  come  later.  In  the  bright  light  the  hemicycle  of  dark, 
richly  cut,  high  choir-stalls  stood  forth  with  much  effect. 
Three  deep  recesses  on  each  hand  held  the  side  altars;  and 
over  the  first  to  left  glistened  an  alluring  pala  of  Moroni 
(i575) — ^e  Madonna  seated  upon  a  cloud,  before  an  open 
window  showing  a  wide  expanse  of  green,  hilly  country  and 
blue  sky,  with  Sts.  Jerome  and  Catherine  kneeling  below. 
Behind  the  high-altar,  enclosed  by  wooden  doors  which  the 
9  Baretti's   "  Manners  and   Customs  in  Italy,"  Vol.  II. 


BERGAMO  THE  UPPER  55 

sacristan  unlocked,  I  was  shown  one  of  Gian  Bellini's  won- 
derful Madonnas,  in  remarkable  preservation.  "  Wonder- 
ful "  is  the  only  word  ;  how  else  can  we  characterize  the 
beauty  of  a  feminine  form  so  utterly  simple  in  countenance, 
garb  and  attitude,  standing  with  folded  hands  behind  a  table 
on  which  the  sacred  infant  is  playing  with  some  doves  in  a 
basket,  yet  so  unutterably  lovely  in  glow  of  tone  and  colour- 
ing, in  perfection  of  modelling,  in  gentleness  of  expression, 
in  the  atmosphere  of  blissful  rest,  that  the  observer  is  inevita- 
bly exalted  to  that  realm  of  beatitude!  Compared  with  its 
grandeur  of  modelling  and  expression,  and  its  harmony  of 
red  and  blue  shades,  the  row  of  huge  paintings  encircling  the 
apse  were  monuments  of  inability  and  decadence.  Only  one 
of  them  was  worthy  of  notice, —  the  Martyrdom  of  the  Bap- 
tist by  G.  B.  Tiepolo,  second  from  the  left  end. 

Returning  to  the  southern  porch  of  S.  Maria  Maggiore,  I 
gazed  for  awhile  at  its  quaint  supports, —  the  two  standing, 
well  preserved,  white  lions  in  front,  and  the  two  crouching 
hunchbacks  in  rear,  from  which  rose  the  slender  shafts  of  the 
canopy ;  blue  and  white  marbles  alternately  were  used  in  the 
voussoirs  of  the  arch  and  the  courses  of  the  spandrels;  the 
frieze  consisted  of  a  series  of  little  niches  with  richly  carved 
statuettes  of  the  Saviour  and  the  twelve  Apostles ;  and  over 
them  soared  the  tall,  slim,  gothic  spire,  faced  by  another 
niche  and  statue,  elaborately  sculped  as  to  columns,  gables, 
crockets  and  finials.  It  was  very  beautiful  and  inspiring, 
in  the  colour  scheme  as  well  as  in  the  lines. 

To  right  of  it,  in  rear,  the  handsome  old  romanesque  cam- 
panile rose,  now  clearly  revealed  from  this  adjacent  piazza, 
of  smooth  grey  stone  up  to  its  fine,  white-arched  belfry;  and 
flanking  the  portal  were  two  picturesque  chapel-apses,  one 
restored,  the  other  still  retaining  its  original  romanesque 
columns,   caps,    and   arches.     Opposite   I   observed   a   house 


56  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

covered  with  old  frescoes  whose  designs  were  yet  evident, — 
amongst  them  some  fanciful,  large,  architectural  schemes, 
with  colonnades  in  long  perspective ;  and  upon  the  near-by 
corner,  framed  and  covered  by  a  wire  netting,  stood  a  re- 
stored, pretty  picture  of  the  Madonna  with  saints. 

A  short  way  northwest  upon  the  Via  Arena,  which  here 
runs  to  the  right,  lies  the  small  but  ancient  church  of  S. 
Grata,  to  which  I  strolled  over,  finding  it  noteworthy  only 
for  some  excellent  mosaics.  Just  south  of  the  piazza,  upon 
a  slightly  higher  elevation,  I  observed  the  immense  renais- 
sance palace  which  had  been  so  prominent  from  the  plain, 
embellished  with  a  central  classic  portico  of  great  Corinthian 
columns.  A  walk  up  the  narrow  Via  Colleoni,  the  exten- 
sion of  Via  Gombito  beyond  Piazza  Garibaldi,  also  proved 
rather  interesting, —  both  on  account  of  the  street  itself, 
confined  darkly  between  tall,  crumbling  houses,  thoroughly 
mediaeval,  and  because  it  led  me  to  an  open  space  at  the 
western  angle  of  the  hilltop,  looking  down  its  precipitous 
northern  slope  to  the  beautiful  vale  between  the  city  and 
the  mountains.  This  was  richly  verdurous,  sparkling  with 
white  farmhouses  and  the  buildings  of  a  considerable  village. 

At  this  apex  of  the  summit  was  a  large  aggregation  of  old 
structures  which  I  was  told  represented  the  ancient  citadel, 
—  that  castle  of  Bergamo  which  for  so  many  generations  had 
made  the  city  one  of  the  most  important  fortresses  of  the 
Milanese.10  Its  strategic  value  was  not  lost  upon  "  the  in- 
carnate genius  of  war,"  X1  when  in  1797  he  was  consolidat- 
ing his  mastery  of  the  plain.  "  In  order  to  protect  himself 
from  the  efforts  which  an  enemy  coming  from  the  Valtellina 

10  This  Italian  word  has  always  been  used  to  denote  the  whole 
realm  of  Milan,  in  the  Mediaeval  and  Renaissance  periods;  and  I 
know  of  no  corresponding  English  term. 

11  Madame  de  Stael's  characterisation  of  Napoleon. 


BERGAMO  THE  UPPER  57 

might  make  on  his  rear,  he  caused  Baraguay  d'Hilliers  to 
seize  the  castle  of  Bergamo."  12  Today  its  ground  is  cov- 
ered by  an  ordinary,  dilapidated  mass  of  buildings,  the  forti- 
fications entirely  gone. 

Returning  along  Via  Colleoni  and  Via  Gombito  I  reached 
again  the  little  piazza  at  the  head  of  the  funicolare;  thence 
followed  the  Via  di  Porta  Dipinta  to  the  left,  which  de- 
scended rapidly,  parallel  with  the  southern  walls,  to  the  east- 
ern angle  of  the  hilltop,  which  is  considerably  lower  than 
the  rest  of  it.  Halfway  down  the  slope  the  rough-brick 
church  of  S.  Andrea  appeared  upon  the  right,  flanked  by  an 
open  yard;  and  on  walking  to  the  rear  of  the  latter,  beside 
the  apse,  I  found  myself  upon  a  lofty  terrace  directly  above 
the  trees  of  the  mural  promenade,  gazing  over  the  walls  at 
the  white  buildings  of  the  newer  city  far  below,  which  were 
scattered  long  and  irregularly  through  the  green  fields  and 
patches  of  wood. 

The  sun  was  setting  on  the  unbroken  western  horizon, 
and  its  level,  streaming  rays  cast  a  haze  of  glory  over  the 
storied  scene,  spreading  the  meadows  with  a  velvety  sheen, 
gilding  every  house-wall,  sparkling  in  distant  windows,  ac- 
centuating with  long  shadows  the  lines  of  cypresses  and  pop- 
lars. Beyond  the  straggling  borgoes,  glistening  with  unreal 
beauty,  a  score  of  tall  brick  chimneys  rose  from  their  broad 
factories,  expelling  the  faint  smoke  of  dying  fires,  and 
gleaming  ruddily  in  the  western  light.  Beyond  them,  again, 
stretched  the  far,  historic  plain,  endowed  at  this  hour  with  a 
lustrous,  romantic  loveliness  that  thrilled  the  heart  with  un- 
speakable emotions:  those  endless  vineyards,  and  fields  of 
mulberry  trees,  those  numberless  white  villas,  villages  and 
towns,  glittering  from  the  emerald  verdure  as  far  as  the  eye 
could  see,  those  straight,  tall  campanili,  with  iridescent  tiles 

12  "  Italian  Campaigns  of  Bonaparte,"  Chap.  VI. 


58  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

upon  their  domes  and  spires,  marking  every  borough,  and 
piercing  like  sentinels  the  level  skyline, —  what  profound 
recollections  did  they  not  awake,  of  princely  avarice,  martial 
struggles,  and  human  misery! 

"  'Tis  at  this  hour,  to  the  sound  of  bells,  that  the  genius 
of  old  cities  seems  to  gather  himself  up  and  overcome  the 
heart."13  It  was  true;  —  for  the  bells  were  waking  now, 
as  the  golden  rays  vanished  from  the  plain,  and  the  fiery 
orb  sank  slowly  out  of  sight.  With  that  pathos  inseparable 
from  the  song  of  the  "  Ave  Maria,"  first  from  one  belfry 
of  the  city,  then  another,  then  a  campanile  in  the  distant 
plain, —  far  and  near  the  brazen  throats  joined  in  the  chorus, 
mellow,  or  harsh,  or  sweetly  pure ;  calling  to  each  other  over 
the  level  tree-tops,  answering,  replying, —  uniting  at  last 
in  one  thrilling  anthem  of  prayer.  Sweet  hour  of  twilight, 
—  hour  of  prayer, —  hour  of  love !  —  how  many  times  have 
the  poets  of  every  tongue  so  addressed  thee,  in  merited  rhap- 
sodies. 

"Ave  Maria!  blessed  be  the  hour, 
The  time,  the  clime,  the  spot  where  I  so  oft 
Have  felt  that  moment  in  its  fullest  power 
Sink  o'er  the  earth  so  beautiful  and  soft. 
While  swung  the  deep  bell  in  the  distant  tower, 
As  the  faint  dying-day  hymn  stole   aloft, 
And  not  a  breath  crept  through  the  rosy  air, 
And  yet  the  forest-leaves  seemed  stirred  with  prayer."14 

Again  I  thought  of  the  Conqueror  who  had  stood  here, 
remembering  how,  when  never  so  immersed  in  war,  in  gov- 
ernment, in  reconstruction  of  the  world,  the  sound  of  the 
vesper-bells  struck  him  instantly  to  silence  and  emotion. 
"  He  would  stop,  lest  the  noise  of  our  footsteps  should  drown 
any  portion  of  the  delightful  sound. —  So  powerful  was  the 

13  Vernon  Lee's  "  Genius  Loci." 

14  Byron's  "  Don  Juan,"  Canto  III. 


BERGAMO  THE  UPPER  59 

effect  produced  on  him  by  the  sound  of  those  bells  that  his 
voice  would  falter  as  he  said, — "Ah!  That  reminds  me  of 
the  first  years  I  spent  at  Brienne. —  I  was  then  happy!"15 

The  "Ave  Maria,"  the  "  Angelus," — such  beautiful  names 
they  are,  for  this  twilight  invocation  to  commune  with  God. 
As  the  elysian  diapason  lost  its  singers  one  by  one,  sank 
dreamily  down,  lingered  a  moment,  and  died  away  upon  the 
sunset  air, —  I  searched  my  memory  for  their  origin.  It  was 
long  ago,  in  ancient  or  early  mediaeval  Italy,  when  this  hour 
was  the  twenty-fourth  of  the  day,  that  its  close  began  to  wit- 
ness the  calling  of  the  devout  to  their  diurnal  prayer ;  and  in 
1326  Pope  John  XXII  ordered  that  every  good  Catholic 
should  say  three  Aves  at  the  sound  of  the  church-bells,  morn- 
ing, noon  and  night.  These  were  "  reckoned  by  the  small 
beads  of  the  rosary,  which  are  hence  called  Ave  Marias,  while 
the  large  beads  are  used  in  the  Pater  Nosters."  Hence  also 
the  natural  transition  of  the  term  of  Ave  Maria  to  the  sun- 
set hour  and  its  bell;  while  the  prayer  itself  received  the 
further  appellation  of  the  Angelus. 

The  service  in  S.  Andrea  was  already  under  way,  as  I 
turned  from  the  adjacent  yard  into  the  dusky  nave.  This 
was  domed,  and  separated  from  the  aisles  by  colonnades  (un- 
arched)  of  stucco  painted  in  imitation  of  marble,  with  corin- 
thian  capitals;  each  aisle  held  one  altar  in  a  recess;  around 
the  apsidal  choir  the  colonnade  continued,  in  the  form  of 
half-columns  upholding  a  painted  cornice,  and  the  ceiling 
was  painted  in  designs  to  imitate  reliefs ;  —  altogether  a 
very  strange,  but  very  cheap  and  modern,  construction. 
Over  the  right-hand  altar  stood  Moretto's  fine  canvas  of  the 
Madonna  with  four  saints,  in  a  tone  of  exceptional  warmth, 
with  figures  beautifully  moulded  and  posed,  in  a  languorous, 

15  Bourrienne's  "  Memoirs  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte,"  Chap. 
XXVIII. 


60  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

crepuscular  atmosphere;  the  Virgin  sat  throned  before  an 
ancient  broken  pillar,  against  a  sky  of  delicious  blueness. — 
At  the  end  of  the  right  aisle  was  a  modern  picture  of  strik- 
ing merit, — a  St.  Anthony  of  Padua,  carrying  a  child  of  ex- 
ceeding loveliness,  so  cleverly  portrayed  that  they  seemed 
actually  detached  from  the  wall  as  living  beings. 

Keeping  on  down  the  street,  I  came  quickly  to  a  small 
piazza  at  the  bottom  of  the  slope,  and  the  ruinous  old  church 
of  S.  Michele  al  Pozzo  Bianco  —  or  St.  Michael  at  the 
White  Well  —  rising  behind  a  dirty  courtyard  upon  an 
adjacent  knoll.  Its  facade  was  to  be  distinguished  from  the 
contiguous  dwellings  only  by  some  lingering  cinquecento 
frescoes,  of  much  shapeliness, —  a  St.  Christopher,  a  pretty, 
rounded  Madonna  of  pleasing  expression,  between  four 
angels,  and  other  scenes  partly  destroyed.  The  mouldering 
houses  upon  the  eastern  and  southern  sides  of  the  court  once 
doubtless  formed  a  mediaeval  monastery.  Good  wives  stood 
gossiping  in  the  open  doorways  of  their  dusky  kitchens,  and 
screaming  children  tumbled  round  the  yard  in  play. 

The  sacristan  appeared,  and  admitted  me  through  a  simple 
entrance  to  the  strange,  square  basilica,  without  aisles,  col- 
umns, or  transept,  covered  by  a  late  wooden  roof;  the  last 
was  supported  by  two  gothic,  stone,  triumphal  arches;  the 
structure's  great  age  was  indicated  by  the  uneven,  crumbling, 
plastered  walls,  adorned  by  early  frescoes  mostly  vanished, 
and  broken  by  no  chapel  nor  recess  except  at  the  rear,  where 
the  high-altar  space  was  flanked  by  little  chambers. 

Upon  both  sides  of  the  first  triumphal  arch  lingered  a 
number  of  primitive  saints,  by  one  Giorgius,  as  appeared 
from  his  signature  on  the  left  pier,  with  the  date  1440.  On 
the  right  wall  hung  a  charming  canvas  of  Leandro  Bassano, 
in  his  best  manner, —  of  beautiful  silvery  tone  and  finish, 
and  not  too  dark;  it  showed  a  Coronation  of  the  Virgin,  in 


BERGAMO  THE  UPPER  61 

clouds,  surrounded  by  angels  and  winged  putti-heads,  with 
five  saints  below  in  a  moonlit  blue  landscape, —  of  most 
winsome  colouring,  modelling,  and  light-effects.  More  ex- 
tensive frescoes  decorated  the  rear  wall  above  the  chapel- 
arches,  and  the  interiors  of  the  chapels, —  the  former,  and 
those  in  the  left  chapel,  being  works  of  the  brilliant  Lotto. 
Over  the  right  arch  was  a  scene  of  the  angel  appearing  to 
Joachim  in  the  temple,  with  some  fine  heads  of  old  men ; 
over  the  left  arch  was  the  Visitation,  in  heroic  figures  of 
much  expressiveness,  once  splendidly  coloured ;  and  the  small 
chapel  behind  it  glistened  brightly  with  the  master's  beautiful 
forms  and  hues,  on  every  wall  and  the  ceiling, —  works  con- 
sidered among  the  few  best  of  all  his  frescoes,  and  certainly 
superior  to  those  of  the  Villa  Suardi  at  Trescorre.  So  there 
is  no  need  to  journey  ten  miles  from  Bergamo  to  ascertain 
Lotto's  ability  in  this  line. 

On  the  chapel's  left  wall,  below,  was  an  Adoration  of 
the  Child,  unfortunately  mostly  destroyed,  and  above  it,  an 
Annunciation ;  on  the  rear  wall,  below,  the  Journey  into 
Egypt,  with  lovely  figures  in  the  Madonna  and  accompany- 
ing angel,  amidst  an  agreeable,  extended  landscape;  above 
it,  the  Birth  of  the  Virgin,  excellently  composed  and  realistic 
in  details;  on  the  right  wall,  below,  the  finest  scene  of  them 
all,  an  Adoration  of  the  Magi, —  the  Holy  Family  seated 
upon  the  broken  steps  of  a  portico  of  a  ruined  temple,  the 
Magi  kneeling  before  them,  and  their  train  winding  sinu- 
ously back  through  the  shadowy  countryside;  above  this, 
the  Marriage  of  the  Virgin,  not  so  effective;  while  the  flat 
dome  bore  a  majestic  figure  of  God  the  Father,  borne  in 
clouds  by  putti,  radiating  strength  and  splendour. —  The  de- 
cadent anonymous  frescoes  of  the  high-altar  recess,  on  the 
contrary,  were  horrifying,  except  for  the  ceiling,  where  shone 
another  image  of  the  Father,  with  the  Evangelists  and  their 


62  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

symbols, —  of  fair  drawing,  especially  in  the  heads.  The 
right  chapel  held  a  pleasing  canvas  by  Jacopo  Paulus, —  a 
Madonna  between  two  saints,  crowned  by  two  comely  angels, 
—  of  considerable  charm  in  tone  and  hues. 

The  sacristan  next  led  me  down  a  dark  flight  of  stairs 
on  the  left  of  the  nave,  to  a  passage  containing  some  early 
frescoes,  of  the  Saviour  and  five  Fathers  of  the  Church ;  be- 
yond which,  to  my  surprise,  opened  a  clearly  ancient  crypt, 
lighted  by  small  windows,  denuded  of  all  furnishing  except 
a  simple  altar  at  the  rear.  Over  this  altar  the  aged  plaster 
held  a  group  of  primitive  figures  in  the  debased  Giottesque 
manner, —  the  Saviour  with  Sts.  Roch  and  Sebastian ;  on 
the  right  wall  remained  a  few  fragments  of  a  Madonna 
and  saints;  and  upon  the  left  was  a  superior  representation 
of  the  same  subject,  also  lifesize,  with  the  flesh  at- 
tractively rounded  and  tinted, — said  to  have  been  the  work 
of  Paxino  da  Nova.  If  this  is  true  —  which  some  doubt — ■ 
it  is  a  valuable  relic  indeed. 

The  twilight  was  now  rapidly  fading, —  in  the  crypt  we 
had  had  to  use  candles;  but  keeping  on  down  the  street,  I 
quickly  reached  another  piazza,  wide,  deserted,  and  grass- 
grown,  faced  by  no  edifices  except  an  old  gothic  church  upon 
the  east,  which  was  backed  by  a  large  cluster  of  monastery 
buildings.  This  was  the  secularized  S.  Agostino,  standing 
upon  the  extreme  eastern  apex  of  the  hilltop ;  and  its  sub- 
version to  use  as  a  barrack  was  revealed  by  the  soldiers 
lounging  about  the  doorways.  The  facade  was  of  beautiful 
gothic,  with  a  fine  recessed  portal,  a  shapely  rose  window, 
and  two  splendid,  long,  pointed  windows  at  the  sides. 

The  piazza  looked  northward  over  the  top  of  the  city 
wall,  with  its  avenue  of  horsechestnuts,  to  the  same  enticing 
valley  below  which  I  had  seen  at  the  western  end,  with  its 
scattered  white  villages  gleaming  amongst  the  dense  verdure ; 


BERGAMO  THE  UPPER  63 

the  opposite  hillsides,  in  their  many  shades  of  green  upon 
meadows,  vineyards,  groves  and  olive-orchards,  were  also 
dotted  picturesquely  white  with  peasant's  homes  and  villas 
of  every  size,  whose  each  detail  was  plainly  discernible  from 
this  height;  and  behind  rose  other  hilltops,  ever  loftier  and 
barer,  till  the  farthest  summits  were  but  darkening  crags 
against  the  wondrous,  deep  blue  sky. 

To  the  west  was  raised  a  different  scene,  surprisingly 
striking  and  picturesque, —  the  old  town  of  Bergamo,  upon 
its  higher  eminence,  separated  from  where  I  stood  by  long 
stretches  of  empty  fields;  from  the  line  of  houses  on  the  left, 
sloping  down  with  the  street  I  had  descended,  cliffs  almost 
precipitate  extended  northward  and  northwestward  around 
the  upper  height,  crowned  by  mediaeval  stone  walls  and 
bastions,  dark  and  frowning,  and  dominated  by  the  ruins  of 
an  imposing  castle,  with  a  great  round  keep  and  battlemented 
towers ;  —  while  behind  them  were  visible  the  crowded 
house-tops  and  street-towers.  I  was  rightly  amazed ;  for 
none  of  all  this  was  to  be  guessed  from  within  the  city. 
But  on  inspecting  the  map,  it  was  evident  that  this  ancient 
castle  stood  just  east  of  the  piazza  of  the  Luogo  Pio  Col- 
leoni,  hidden,  together  with  the  walls  and  the  cliff,  behind 
the  jumble  of  unpenetrated  old  buildings  there.  So  here 
was  an  acropolis  within  a  hilltop, —  doubtless  the  earliest 
town  itself,  before  its  precincts  were  extended  to  cover  the 
whole  of  the  summit. 

Turning  southward  from  the  piazza,  a  few  steps  brought 
me  to  the  eastern  gate,  Porta  S.  Agostino, —  a  mass  of  heavy 
masonry  pierced  by  three  deep  arctnvays,  of  general  renais- 
sance design.  Across  the  bridge  over  the  dry  moat,  a  grand 
view  opened  to  the  east  and  southeast, —  the  Alpine  foot- 
hills stretching  afar  with  successive  fertile  slopes  and  rounded 
crests,  and,  directly  below,  the  terminal  borgo  of  S.  Caterina, 


64  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

extending  into  the  plain  in  an  elongated  line  of  stuccoed 
dwellings  and  massive  churches.  To  the  right  a  road  led 
directly  down  to  Borgo  Pignolo ;  but  taking  that  to  the  east, 
to  S.  Caterina,  I  descended  rapidly  the  slope  between  vine- 
yards and  gardens,  until  the  buildings  began  to  close  around 
me;  and  then,  behind  the  three  sides  of  a  courtyard  on  the 
left,  I  saw  the  impressive  renaissance  palace  of  the  Accademia 
Carrara,  with  prominent  projecting  wings,  its  main  body 
handsomely  adorned  with  Corinthian  half-columns  on  the 
upper  stories. 

It  was  the  home  of  the  celebrated  picture-galleries  of 
Bergamo, —  one  of  the  three  or  four  greatest  collections  of 
the  Lombard  plain,  and  to.  me  more  enjoyable  than  any 
except  the  Brera  of  Milan.  A  couple  of  hundred  paces 
beyond  it  brought  me  to  the  centre  of  the  borgo,  where  I 
soon  caught  an  electric  tram  for  Via  Torquato  Tasso 
and  my  hotel;  and  I  reached  the  last  thoroughly  fatigued 
by  the  long  day.  I  should  by  all  means  advise  two  days 
being  used  to  see  the  upper  town ;  I  might  as  well  have  done 
so  myself,  for  I  returned  there  several  times. 

My  inspection  of  the  Accademia  was  more  leisurely  and 
careful.  It  consists  of  three  separate  collections,  bequeathed 
to  the  city  by  different  wealthy  citizens,  and  subsequently 
added  to ;  —  the  Galleries  Lochis,  Morelli  and  Carrara. 
They  occupy  a  large  part  of  the  two  upper  floors, —  princi- 
pally the  second ;  for  on  the  first  is  shown  only  a  single  hall, 
called  the  Museo  Carrara,  containing  many  cases  of  coins 
and  other  objects  of  lesser  interest,  and  many  paintings  of 
comparatively  little  worth.  Among  them,  however,  are  a 
noble  head  of  Christ  by  the  rare  Rocco  Marconi  (146)  and 
a  finely  toned  and  tinted  Madonna  with  saints,  by  Rizzardo 
Locatelli    (29). 

Above  the   staircase,    lined   with   drawings,   opens  a  hall 


BERGAMO  THE  UPPER  65 

containing  paintings  of  the  early  Bergamasque  school,  inter- 
esting in  their  primitive  way  though  almost  entirely  of  un- 
known authorship;  the  best  being  a  Pieta  of  considerable 
feeling,  by  Bramantino.  From  this  the  Galleria  Carrara  leads 
eastward  along  the  front  of  the  central  building, —  the  stairs 
being  in  the  western  angle, —  three  chambers  filled  with 
paintings  of  the  later  Bergamasque,  the  Milanese,  and  the 
Venetian  schools ;  a  great  part  of  which  are  works  of  the  best 
class.  Seldom  anywhere  have  I  seen  so  large  a  proportion 
of  excellent  pictures  as  in  these  three  collections,  and  no- 
where have  I  been  more  enchanted  by  examples  of  perfect 
beauty.  In  such  abundance,  where  scores  are  noteworthy,  to 
distinguish  but  a  few  best  is  difficult  indeed;  I  can  but 
mention  those  that  pleased  me  most  of  all. 

Room  I  included  a  large  Madonna  and  saints  by  Girolamo 
Colleoni  (24),  splendidly  finished  and  lighted,  in  a  lovely 
landscape  of  brown,  green  and  blue;  a  Holy  Family  by 
Palma  Vecchio,  seated  in  another  charming  landscape,  of 
remarkable  internal  glow,  and  very  beautiful;  a  superior 
Palma  Giovane,  the  dead  Christ  in  glory,  with  saints  below 
before  a  sunset  sky;  and  a  marvellous  Previtali  (182)  — the 
Holy  Child  seated  on  a  stone  wall,  leaning  upon  a  white 
silk  cushion,  looking  at  an  open  book,  and  behind  Him  the 
half-figure  of  the  Madonna,  leaning  over,  putting  a  transpar- 
ent kerchief  about  His  shoulders  with  a  touching  expression 
of  maternal  love  and  pride, —  both  the  forms  glowing  with 
a  heavenly  brightness  and  loveliness  impossible  to  conceive; 
while  to  rear  extend  a  ruinous  castle,  and  a  range  of  dis- 
tant blue  mountains  beneath  a  line  of  sunset  gold. 

Room  II  had  two  other  superb  examples  of  Previtali, — 
a  Marriage  of  St.  Catherine,  with  four  attending  saints 
(68),  and  a  group  of  five  richly  framed  panels,  each  holding 
a  saint  (97),  of  exceptionally  golden  tone  and  finish,  simple 


66  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

yet  unutterably  pleasing.  Here  was  Lotto's  famous  Mar- 
riage of  St.  Catherine,  with  female  forms  of  fairest  skin, 
brightest  eyes,  and  resplendently  hued  garments,  glistening 
in  a  strong  light;  also  Santa  Croce's  early  Annunciation 
(70)  brilliant  in  tone  and  colours;  Gaudenzio  Ferrari's 
Madonna  before  a  red  curtain,  looking  out  with  winning 
naivete;  a  number  of  Moroni's  powerful,  lifelike  portraits, 
of  the  first  order;  and  a  Christ  at  table  with  two  Apostles, 
from  the  school  of  Gian  Bellini  (11)  —  a  beautiful  picture, 
of  his  softly  golden,  rayless  atmosphere,  and  quiet  charm. 

Room  III  was  still  more  interesting:  in  the  first  place,  it 
held  some  earlier  works,  including  six  excellent  specimens 
of  Bart.  Vivarini,  figures  of  the  Madonna  and  saints,  quaintly 
pleasing,  a  St.  Jerome  by  Mansueti  (186),  in  a  queer  land- 
scape of  much  variety,  a  grand  head  of  Christ  by  Basaiti 
(165)  another  head  by  Carpaccio  (144)  one  of  Cima's 
golden  Madonnas,  with  two  infants  (382)  of  seductive 
loveliness,  and  a  fascinating  bust  of  the  Madonna  by  Man- 
tegna,  on  silk  (153)  with  flesh  of  most  delicate  softness  and 
skilful  moulding.  The  Veronese  Francesco  Morone  was  rep- 
resented by  a  Madonna  and  saints,  half-figures  (188),  pos- 
sessing a  subdued  splendour  of  form,  colour  and  atmosphere. 
Finally,  there  were  several  Borgognone's  of  great  beauty, 
especially  the  Pieta,  the  S.  Caterina,  and  the  S.  Agata  (375- 
6—7)  ;  and  three  Previtali's  of  a  loveliness  beyond  expression, 
justly  placed  among  the  most  perfect  products  of  Italian  art. 

One  was  a  Madonna  alone  with  her  Child  (184)  seated 
in  an  old  cloister,  with  the  Infant  upon  a  white  cushion 
on  her  knee ;  another,  a  Madonna  with  Sts.  Anna  and 
Joachim  (410),  before  a  shattered  Roman  temple  in  a 
sumptuous  landscape,  the  Virgin  clad  in  a  simple  red  dress 
and  blue  cloak,  holding  the  Child  upon  the  master's  cus- 
tomary   white    cushion;    and    in    the    third     (183)     she    is 


BERGAMO  THE  UPPER  67 

similarly  garbed  and  posed,  before  a  red  curtain  with  no 
accessories  nor  landscape,  accompanied  by  two  saints  and 
two  donors.  In  all  she  is  endowed  with  a  truly  wonderful, 
celestial  beauty,  of  bewitching  gentleness  and  sweetness  of 
expression,  in  an  atmosphere  of  golden  shades. 

The  Galleria  Morelli  consisted  of  two  rooms  opening 
from  the  second  mentioned,  smaller  in  extent,  unnumbered, 
yet  possessing  a  score  of  superior  works,  of  various  schools. 
Florence  was  represented  by  Lorenzo  Credi's  finely  modelled, 
gentle,  expressive  Madonna,  in  an  inviting  landscape,  a 
portrait-head  by  Baldovinetti,  al  fresco,  Signorelli's  small 
panel  of  Madonna  and  Child,  Donatello's  characteristic  ter- 
ra-cotta  relief  of  the  same  subject,  and  three  fine  specimens 
of  Botticelli, —  a  head  of  a  young  man,  a  head  of  Christ, 
and  a  large  striking  panel  of  the  Calumny  of  a  Virgin,  in 
four  parts,  from  the  same  study  as  his  famous  Calumny 
at  Florence,  and  very  similar.  From  Venice  were  Cima's 
richly  coloured  Madonna  and  Child,  before  a  wide,  blue 
landscape,  and  two  of  Gian  Bellini's  brilliant  treatments  of 
the  same  subject, —  one  a  bust  with  no  background,  the 
other  a  large  canvas  in  his  best  manner  (signed),  having 
a  charming  countryside  dotted  with  castellated  towns.  From 
Verona  came  the  rare  portrait-head  by  Vittore  Pisano,  and 
two  small  panels  of  Moretto, —  an  injured  Madonna  with 
St.  Jerome,  and  a  delightful  scene  of  Christ  with  the  woman 
at  the  well,  effectively  shadowed,  with  a  superb  figure  of 
the  Saviour.  Chief  amongst  the  various  other  schools  were 
specimens  of  Sodoma,  Civerchio,  Franz  Hals  (a  portrait 
head)  Boltraffio  (a  captivating  head  of  the  youthful  Christ) 
and  Rembrandt's  attractive  portrait  of  a  young  girl,  re- 
markable in  its  detail  and  expression. 

The  Galleria  Lochis  consisted  of  three  rooms  running 
north  from  the  outer  hallway,  along  the  western  side,  with 


68  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

pictures  even  more  numerous  and  valuable  than  those  of 
the  Carrara.  Its  chief  treasures  were  collected  in  the  final 
chamber,  whose  array  of  masterpieces  it  would  be  difficult 
to  find  equalled  anywhere,  in  a  space  of  similar  size.  Most 
noteworthy  in  Room  I  were  Mansueti's  brightly  hued  Pieta, 
and  Moretto's  enchanting  Holy  Family,  in  his  pearl  and 
silver  tone.  Room  II  was  remarkable  for  Carpaccio's  S. 
Rocco  (190)  Guido  Reni's  Franciscan  Friar  (36)  Velas- 
quez's full  length  portrait  of  a  man  (30)  Previtali's  exquisite 
Madonna  and  saints  (176)  with  its  noble,  lifelike  figure  of 
St.  Sebastian,  Santa  Croce's  quaint  row  of  saints  against 
a  blue  sky  (214)  Holbein's  three  powerful  portraits  on 
black  (57,  147,  148)  and  the  extraordinary  Pieta  of  Mar- 
cello  Venusti   (31)   of  startling  realism  and  vividness. 

The  final  salon  being  almost  entirely  of  masterpieces,  I 
can  mention  but  half  a  dozen  of  the  most  exceptional:  the 
very  rare  Madonna  and  saints  by  Gentile  da  Fabriano  (230) 
Gentile  Bellini's  commanding  portrait  of  a  Doge  (151) 
Giorgione's  two  portraits  of  men  (157,  164)  Cima's  win- 
some Madonna  and  Child  (142)  Francia's  noble  head  of 
Christ  (221)  Raphael's  marvellous  head  of  a  saint  (207) 
Previtali's  small  but  glorious  Madonna  (171)  and  Palma 
Vecchio's  very  beautiful  Madonna  and  saints  (183).  There 
were  three  sirflall  canvases  attributed  to  Mantegna,  but  more 
or  less  doubtfully, —  a  Resurrection,  a  St.  Jerome,  and  a 
portrait  of  a  bull-necked  youth;  also  one  attributed  by 
some  authorities  to  Leonardo, —  a  study  of  the  Madonna 
and  Child  in  chiaroscuro  (136). 

Lotto's  renowned  picture  of  the  Holy  Family  and  St. 
Catherine  adoring  the  sleeping  Child,  was  in  this  room 
(185) — the  babe  lying  upon  a  green  velvet  cloth,  the 
others  kneeling  round  about,  and  a  wide,  flat  countryside 
stretching  to  rear, — "  one  of  the  most  enticing  and  dainty 


BERGAMO  THE  UPPER  69 

pictures  of  the  master."  16  But  that  which  had  for  me  a 
special  interest,  was  a  Madonna  with  two  saints  and  donor, 
by  Fra  Marco  Pensaben  of  Treviso  (168),  which,  I  ob- 
served, had  the  same  rich  tone,  powerful  drawing,  and 
joyous  colouring,  as  the  unforgettable  high-altar-piece  of  S. 
Niccolo  in  that  town;  showing  after  all  that  the  good  friar 
was  quite  capable  of  executing  a  large  share  of  the  excellen- 
cies of  that  masterpiece.17 

—  A  number  of  very  attractive  excursions  may  be  taken 
into  the  country  around  Bergamo,  which  is  most  pleasant 
for  automobilists ;  but  the  railways,  steam  tramways  and 
electric  lines  are  as  available  as  a  motor-car.  The  valleys 
of  the  Brembana  and  Seriana  are  both  interesting,  the  latter 
more  especially;  for  its  second  railway  station,  the  village 
of  Alzano,  contains  in  its  church  of  S.  Martino  one  of 
Lotto's  grandest  canvases,  the  celebrated  Death  of  St.  Peter 
Martyr;  —  and  thence  through  scenery  increasingly  pictur- 
esque, the  road  ascends  to  its  terminus  at  Ponte  della  Selva, 
from  which,  and  the  near-by  Clusone,  one  may  make  delight- 
ful walking  trips  and  ascents  in  the  Bergamasque  mountains, 
rising  to  an  elevation  of  more  than  10,000  feet. 

The  excursion  through  the  eastern  Val  Cavallina  is  also 
enjoyable,  from  Trescorre  at  the  southern  end,  with  its  re- 
nowned Villa  Suardi  containing  Lotto's  extensive  frescoes, 
past  the  charming  little  Lago  Spinone,  to  the  fascinating 
town  of  Lovere  on  Lago  d'Iseo;  this  lake  is  beautifully 
framed  by  mountains,  as  is  Lovere  itself,  with  its  quaint  old 
arcaded  houses  and  Swiss  roofs  —  an  unusual  combination ; 
and  one  may  see   in   its  churches   a  number  of   interesting 

16  Crowe  and  Cavalcasalle. 

17  Fide  -"Plain-Towns  of  Italy," — the  chapter  on  Treviso; 
where  the  question  of  the  authorship  of  that  splendid  masterpiece 
is  discussed. 


70  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

frescoes  of  the  Brescian  Ferramola,  as  well  as  works  of 
Romanino  and  Fran.  Morone. 

Upon  the  plain  the  most  pleasurable  excursion  is  to  Col- 
leoni's  former  countryhouse  of  Malpaga,  where  he  lived  long 
in  such  royal  state,  with  600  of  his  old  soldiers  as  retainers. 
It  lies  about  a  mile  from  the  tramway  station  of  Cavernago, 
which  is  TY2  miles  southeast  of  Bergamo.  By  continuing 
on  the  tramway  one  would  soon  reach  Martinengo, —  once 
Colleoni's  property  but  now  a  seat  of  the  Brescian  counts 
of  that  name,  who  also  possess  the  Chateau  of  Malpaga  and 
its  estate, —  and,  a  little  further  south,  the  villages  of  Romano 
and  Antegnate,  which,  with  their  surrounding  lands  far 
and  wide,  were  two  more  of  the  fiefs  conferred  upon  Col- 
leoni  by  the  grateful  Venetian  Republic.  While  fighting 
for  it  against  Filippo  Maria  Visconti,  he  had  steadily  risen 
in  rank  until  he  commanded  a  condotta  of  nearly  a  thousand 
horsemen,  and  upon  the  death  of  Gattamelata  in  1440,  had 
received  the  leadership  of  the  largest  forces. 

When  Colleoni  finally  settled  down  at  Malpaga  to  enjoy 
the  great  wealth  accumulated,  his  renowned  courtly  life  be- 
came not  only  princely  in  its  magnificence  and  constant  en- 
tertainments, but  also  a  prominent  example  of  the  new 
culture  of  the  Renaissance;  for  Colleoni  was  a  well  bred 
man,  of  noble  birth,  from  one  of  the  oldest  Bergamasque 
families.  He  was  pious  and  remarkably  benevolent. 
Through  all  his  territories  he  executed  valuable  public  works, 
in  aqueducts,  fountains,  town-walls,  civic  buildings,  irri- 
gation projects,  etc. ;  the  many  eleemosynary  institutions 
founded  and  maintained  by  his  own  resources,  at  Bergamo 
and  various  other  towns,  have  given  him  a  lasting  fame,  and 
claim  to  the  people's  gratitude.  Churches,  monasteries,  hos- 
pitals, orphan  asylums,  establishments  to  dower  poor  girls, 
etc.,  through  his  genius  and  munificence  have  kept  alive  his 


BERGAMO  THE  UPPER  71 

fair  name  over  all  this  countryside;  and  even  in  his  death 
he  intervened  by  his  legacy  to  save  the  Serene  Republic  at  a 
desperate  crisis  of  her  existence. 

No  longer  does  the  Castle  of  Malpaga  present  any  appear- 
ance of  that  brilliant  court  which  made  it  famous.  The 
description  of  J.  A.  Symonds  upon  his  visit  several  decades 
ago,  included  in  his  delightful  article  upon  "  Bergamo  and 
Bart.  Colleoni,"  gave  a  sad  but  true  picture  of  the  decay 
into  which  it, —  like  so  many,  many  historic  castles, —  had 
fallen : 

"  Its  courts  and  galleries  have  been  turned  into  a  monster- 
farm,  and  the  southern  rooms,  where  Colleoni  entertained 
his  guests,  are  given  over  to  the  silk-worms.  Half  a  dozen 
families  employed  upon  the  vast  estate  of  the  Martinengo 
family,  occupy  the  still  substantial  house  and  stable.  The 
moat  is  planted  with  mulberry  trees;  the  upper  rooms  are 
used  as  granaries  for  golden  maize;  cows,  pigs  and  horses 
litter  in  the  spacious  yard.  Yet  the  walls  of  the  inner 
court  and  of  the  ancient  state-rooms  are  brilliant  with  fres- 
coes, executed  by  some  good  Venetian  hand,  which  represent 
the  chief  events  of  Colleoni's  life, —  his  battles,  his  reception 
by  the  Signory  of  Venice,  his  tournaments  and  hawking 
parties,  and  the  great  series  of  entertainments  with  which 
he  welcomed  Christian  of  Denmark  — "  18  on  the  latter's 
pilgrimage  to  Rome.  Some  of  these  frescoes  are  by  Ro- 
manino. 

It  was  in  this  now  forlorn  ruin  that  the  great  Colleoni 
spent  a  large  part  of  "  the  last  eighteen  years  of  his  life, — 
at  Bergamo  and  in  his  castles  of  Malpaga,  Romano  and 
Martinengo,  guarded  by  the  600  veterans  who  had  grown 
grey  in  his  service,  and  surrounded  by  a  company  of  savants 
and  artists  in  whose  society  he  delighted.     The  latest  biog- 

18  J.  A.  Symonds'  "  Sketches  and  Studies  in  Italy." 


72  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

rapher  of  this  model  condottiere  (Rio,  in  his  "Art  Chre- 
tien ")  shows  him  to  have  been  a  pattern  of  every  Christian 
and  knightly  virtue,  truthful  and  disinterested,  and,  though 
passionate  and  impetuous,  ever  ready  to  forgive  his  enemies 
and  to  recognise  their  good  qualities. —  He  "  transformed 
Romano  into  an  Escurial,  where  he  divided  his  time  between 
pious  and  military  exercises,  in  the  midst  of  his  double  troop 
of  warriors  and  monks,  his  young  and  old  guard,  which  rep- 
resented to  him  his  memories  and  his  hopes."  "  19 

19  C.   C.  Perkins'  "  Italian   Sculptors." 


CHAPTER  III 

MONZA  AND  THE  IRON  CROWN 

"  It  chanced  that  in  our  last  year's  wanderings 
We  dwelt  at  Monza,  far  away  from  home, 
If  home  we  had;  and  in  the  Duomo  there 
I  sometimes  entered  with  her  when  she  prayed. 
An  image  of  our  Lady  stands  there,  wrought 
In  marble  by  some  great  Italian  hand 

In  the  days  when  she  and  Italy  sat  on  one  throne  together. 
—  And  so  I  left  her  to  her  prayers,  and  went 
To  gaze  upon  the  pride  of  Monza's  shrine, 
Where  in  the  sacristy  the  light  still  falls 
Upon  the  Iron  Crown  of  Italy." 

D.  G.  Rossetti's  "  A  Last  Confession." 

Westward, —  to  that  last  confine  of  Venice,  that  boundary 
of  patrician  ambitions  and  Visconti  hopes, —  the  Adda.  Ber- 
gamo lay  behind  now,  upon  her  massy  hilltops,  gazing  after 
me  with  her  receding  walls  and  domes  and  ancient  towers, 
—  a  picture  to  stay  forever  in  the  mind.  Around  me 
stretched  the  smiling  plain,  radiant  with  the  varying  em- 
erald tints  of  the  far  stretching  fields  of  wheat  and  maize, 
of  the  vineyards,  the  orchards,  the  rows  of  mulberry  and 
poplar;  but  black  as  ever  soared  the  lines  of  pointed  cy- 
presses, and  still  in  pearly  grey  extended  the  endless  olive- 
groves  along  the  hillsides. 

In  this  part  of  the  plain  wheat  is  really  the  principal 
crop,  as  the  countless  fields  devoted  to  its  growth  bear  wit- 
ness; over  150,000  bushels  annually  are  said  to  be  raised 
in  the  Milanese;  but  even  at  that,  much  more  has  to  be 
imported,  to  fill  the  local  demands  for  consumption.     It  is 

73 


74  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

another  indication  of  the  advancement  of  Milan  and  her 
surrounding  territory  over  the  rest  of  Lombardy  and  the 
mountain  districts,  which  still  cling  so  exclusively  to  the 
use  of  Indian  corn,  ground  into  polenta,  that  the  vile 
pellagra  remains  nearly  everywhere  prevalent,  as  I  myself 
had  found.  That  form  of  skin-  or  blood-disease  —  which 
is  now  believed  to  proceed,  not  so  much  from  the  unvaried 
eating  of  the  corn,  as  from  the  careless  consumption  of  that 
which  is  mouldy  and  improperly  dried, —  has  lately  begun 
to  extend  its  ravages  into  the  southern  United  States.  It 
has  certainly  been  an  accursed  plague  to  Italy. 

When  Bergamo  had  receded  from  sight,  the  train  crossed 
the  Bremba,  several  miles  below  the  mouth  of  the  valley, 
and  ran  slightly  south  of  west,  through  the  beautiful  undu- 
lating section  of  the  plain  which  forms  the  triangle  between 
that  stream  and  the  Adda.  Gentle  elevations  billowed  away 
on  both  sides,  delightfully  checkered  with  vari-coloured  fields, 
orchards  and  copses  of  wood,  and  shining  with  stuccoed 
villas  and  farm-houses;  the  hills  upon  the  right  mounted 
quickly  to  the  rocky  heights  between  the  Val  Brembana  and 
Lago  di  Lecco,  including  the  imposing  form  of  Mt.  Reseg- 
none,  6,100  feet  in  height.  Soon  the  Adda  appeared,  wide 
and  impetuous,  rolling  southward  the  deep  waters  of  Lakes 
Como  and  Lecco.  We  crossed  it  about  ten  miles  south 
of  the  latter;  and  half  a  dozen  miles  below  us,  invisible  on 
account  of  the  river's  windings,  sat  the  great  historic  castle 
of  Trezzo,  commanding  the  rushing  stream  from  its  battle- 
mented  point.  Another  time  I  should  by  all  means  journey 
to  Monza  by  the  tramway,  which  passes  through  Trezzo 
village  and  permits  a  visit  to  the  castle. 

This  huge  structure,  once  so  famed  for  its  combination 
of  strength  and  magnificence,  now  only  a  shattered  ruin, 
was  built  by  Bernabo  Visconti   during  his  lordship  of  the 


MONZA  AND  THE  IRON  CROWN  75 

Milanese j —  that  wretched  rule  which  "  displayed  all  the 
worst  vices  of  the  Visconti."  1  There,  as  at  Milan  and  his 
other  strongholds,  he  was  wont  to  amuse  himself  by  tor- 
turing his  helpless  subjects,  seizing  the  excuse  of  any  mere 
accusation  of  crime  or  enmity;  he  cut  off  their  limbs,  ears 
and  noses,  put  out  their  eyes,  racked,  stretched,  and  finally 
killed  them, —  even  on  one  certified  occasion  enjoyed  himself 
by  having  a  peasant,  who  was  charged  with  killing  a  hare, 
eaten  alive  by  his  famished  hounds.  He  liked  to  burn  their 
houses,  to  watch  the  flames,  and  in  his  zeal  even  burned  a 
number  of  holy  friars  who  had  come  to  try  to  bring  him  to 
repentance. 

Retribution  came,  however,  upon  that  day  of  1385  when 
Bernabo  rode  out  of  his  capital  to  greet  the  passing  nephew 
whom  he  despised  and  planned  to  put  out  of  his  way ;  Gian 
Galeazzo  confined  him  at  first  in  Milan,  for  a  short  time, 
and  then,  by  a  queer  stroke  of  fate,  in  this  very  castle  of 
Trezzo  which  he  had  builded  and  turned  to  such  devilish 
uses.  But  after  a  few  miserable  months  he  perished  by 
poison,  together  with  his  sons.  Gian  Galeazzo  went  on  his 
way  of  conquest,  expelling  from  his  cities  all  the  Guelfic 
nobles,  and  those  opposed  to  him  for  any  reason.  Amongst 
the  many  noble  Guelfs  exiled  from  Bergamo,  was  Pietro,  of 
the  ancient  house  of  Colleoni;  during  his  wanderings  a  son 
was  born  to  him,  in  1400,  at  Salza, —  the'  youngest  of  his 
children,  who  was  christened  Bartolomeo.  In  1405,  during 
the  confusion  following  Gian  Galeazzo's  decease,  Pietro 
with  an  armed  following  seized  suddenly,  by  stratagem,  this 
same  castle  of  Trezzo,  and  proceeded  to  make  himself  and  his 
family  at  home  in  it. 

Then,  as  he  was  a  generous  man,  he  invited  four  cousins 
to    share    his    plenty;    who    soon    repaid    the    obligation    by 

1  Symonds'  "  Age  of  the  Despots." 


76  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

slaughtering  Pietro  and  his  children,  leaving  alive  only  the 
infant  Bartolomeo  and  his  mother,  closely  confined  in  a 
dungeon.  Such  was  the  rueful  commencement  of  the  great 
condottiere's  life.  The  two  were  later  removed  to  the 
near-by  village  of  Salza,  where  he  grew  up  in  severest  pov- 
erty until  old  enough  to  enter  the  profession  of  arms.  A 
few  years  later,  in  141 7,  Carmagnola  revenged  the  treachery 
by  taking  the  castle  from  Paolo  Colleoni,  after  a  brilliant 
siege. 

Across  the  Adda  I  was  at  last  upon  Milanese  territory, 
which  was  here  the  level  plain  again,  as  far  as  the  town 
of  Usmate,  five  miles  to  the  west;  there  a  change  would  be 
necessary, —  from  the  branch  line  to  the  main  road  that 
runs  from  Milan  to  Lecco,  and  up  the  lake's  eastern  side  to 
the  Valtellina  and  Chiavenna.  But  before  we  had  advanced 
a  mile  from  the  river,  I  was  called  to  the  right-hand  window 
to  observe  a  remarkable  alteration  in  the  scenery.  This 
whole  journey,  in  fact,  is  one  happy  sequence  of  varied  land- 
scape and  delightful  views;  and  the  scene  which  I  now  be- 
held was  not  only  the  most  beautiful, —  it  was  unforgetta- 
ble. 

North  of  the  track  extended  the  flat  plain,  for  several 
miles,  with  few  trees  in  the  immediate  vicinity  to  interrupt 
the  view,  which  thus  ranged  out  above  the  more  distant 
woods  to  a  far-spread  panorama,  entirely  different  from  any 
I  had  yet  beheld ;  there,  beyond  the  level  ground,  stretched 
indefinitely  to  the  west  and  northwest  a  wooded  country  of 
innumerable  lovely  hills,  with  broad,  rounded  tops  and  gently 
sloping  sides, —  knolls  rather  than  hills,  short  but  astonish- 
ingly close  together,  arranged  in  no  lines  nor  conformations, 
divided  by  no  broad  valleys,  studding  the  land  like  the 
countless  bolt-heads  on  a  mediaeval  door.  Another  remark- 
able fact  was  the  evenness  of  their  height,  no  summit  rising 


MONZA  AND  THE  IRON  CROWN  77 

to  obscure  a  view  of  those  behind  it.  The  endless  dark 
woods  were  set  off  and  contrasted  by  light  green  pastures 
here  and  there,  and  occasional  slopes  brightly  checkered  by 
cultivation;  faint  streaks  of  glistening  silver  marked  the 
presence  of  lakes  and  rivers;  and  everywhere  in  the  sombre 
foliage,  from  nearly  every  hilltop,  gleamed  afar  the  white 
walls  of  villas, —  the  finishing  touch  of  human  interest  that 
made  the  scene  enchanting.  Not  a  town  nor  a  village  was 
visible, —  only  these  numberless  country-houses,  peeping  one 
by  one  from  the  umbrageous  verdure  with  flashing  wall  or 
red-tiled  roof,  or  raising  grey  battlemented  towers  above  the 
tree-tops,  that  marked  the  sites  of  the  more  ancient  castles. 

No  less  astonishing  was  the  vast  extent  of  this  landscape: 
on  and  on  it  stretched,  in  beautiful,  orderless  series  of  dark, 
rounded  heights,  forest-  and  villa-crowned,  league  after 
league,  the  summits  dwindling  on  the  far  western  perspective, 
the  curving  flanks  merging  in  the  haze  of  distance, —  till  it 
seemed  that  I  must  be  overlooking  a  full  hundred  miles  of 
country.  On  the  north  the  boundary  of  the  Alpine  wall 
was  nearer, —  the  peaks  around  Lake  Como,  looming  bare 
and  rocky,  a  score  of  miles  away;  but  farther  to  the  west, 
beyond  that  indefinite  vista  of  hills  and  woods,  from  the 
haze  in  which  it  ended  there  rose  a  sight  so  magnificent,  so 
breathless,  that  the  beauty  of  the  countryside  dropped  in- 
significant from  my  mind. 

A  stupendous  mountain-chain  hung  there  in  the  upper 
air,  its  mighty  form  glittering  with  dazzling  eternal  snow, 
its  pinnacles  scintillating  against  the  sky  of  deepest  blue. 
Never  had  I  beheld  an  object  more  lovely  and  yet  more  ter- 
rible. Vast  as  it  appeared, —  its  tremendous  height  indi- 
cated by  the  extent  of  the  gleaming  snow,  which  seemed  to 
rise  from  the  very  foot,  up  miles  of  precipices  and  aretes, — 
it  was  really  a  hundred  miles  away,  beyond  Lago  Maggiore, 


78  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

on  the  borderline  of  western  Switzerland.  It  was  Italy's 
loftiest  chain,  the  second  in  all  Europe, —  Monte  Rosa. 
And  this  wide  expanse  of  charming  hill  country,  with  its 
woods  and  lakes  and  glistening  villas,  so  different  from  any- 
thing else  in  Italy, —  was  the  celebrated  Monte  Brianza. 

"  How  faintly  flashed,  how  phantom  fair 
Was  Monte  Rosa,   hanging  there, — 
A  thousand  shadowy  pencilled  valleys 
And  snowy  dells  in  a  golden  air!"2 

The  district  of  Brianza  extends  from  the  triangle  between 
Lakes  Como  and  Lecco,  southward  halfway  to  Milan;  it 
is  the  great  summer  playground  of  Milan  and  its  territories, 
— famed,  not  only  for  its  natural  beauties,  but  for  containing 
what  is  doubtless  the  most  numerous  assortment  of  country- 
houses  of  any  space  of  equal  size  in  the  world.  It  is  one 
huge  park,  divided  mostly  into  the  private  grounds  of  villas, 
—  thousands  upon  thousands  of  them,  as  I  had  seen,  with 
their  gardens,  terraces,  groves,  pavilions  and  pergolas.  Half 
a  dozen  small  lakes  add  to  the  attractiveness  of  the  dashing 
streams,  the  sequestered  vales,  and  the  wooded  hills  crowned 
with  their  chateaus,  commanding  ever  delightful  views. 
"  Nowhere,"  as  Mr.  Richard  Bagot  has  well  said,  "  perhaps 
in  the  whole  of  Italy,  is  there  to  be  found  more  idyllic 
scenery  than  in  the  Lombard  paradise."  3  It  is  a  paradise 
however,  that  is  seldom,  if  ever,  seen  by  foreigners,  except 
the  few  occasionally  invited  to  share  some  ville ggiatura. 
But,  unfortunately,  there  is  a  discordant  note  for  the  beauty- 
lover.  Too  many  of  the  villas  are  comparatively  recent  in 
construction,  displaying  therefore  upon  closer  view  the  un- 
fortunate taste  of  the  modern  Milanese,  with  grounds  mal- 

2  Tennyson's  "  The  Daisy." 

3  Richard  Bagot's  "  The  Lakes  of  Northern  Italy." 


MONZA  AND  THE  IRON  CROWN  79 

treated  by  being  deprived  of  shade  immediately  about  the 
house,  and  distorted  with  unsuitable  adornments. 

Lady  Morgan  has  clearly  expressed  this: — "The  neigh- 
bourhood of  Milan  abounds  with  villas,  few  of  which  bear 
any  resemblance  to  the  seats  of  the  English  nobility.  They 
are  more  places  of  temporary  retreat,  or  casual  recreation, 
than  of  a  permanent  or  periodical  residence.  The  nobility 
go  regularly  at  St.  Martin's  Eve,  in  November,  to  settle 
with  their  tenants,  and  frequently  stay  still  Christmas. 
Their  other  visits  to  the  country  are  few  and  distant,  and 
their  villeggiature  last  but  a  few  days. —  There  were  for- 
merly no  local  ties  to  attach  the  Italians  to  rural  life.  They 
had  no  love  of  gardening;  they  did  not  plant,  nor  farm, 
nor  ornament.  They  built,  indeed,  extravagantly,  but  never 
completed;  generally  speaking,  their  vast  and  desolate  villas 
shew  a  mixture  of  ruin  and  neglect,  that  forms  a  most  gloomy 
and  dreary  picture.  Terraces,  balustrades,  colonnades,  pa- 
vilions, courts,  fortifications,  towers,  temples,  and  belvederes 
abound  very  generally;  but  green,  fresh,  delicious  nature  is 
almost  everywhere  excluded."  4  But  it  must  be  added  that 
with  the  recent  great  increase  of  wealth,  and  constant  follow- 
ing of  English  ideas,  the  estates  have  steadily  improved  in 
appearance;  though  the  newer  villas  are  hideous,  there  is 
increasing  effort  to  beautify  naturally  the  parks  and  gardens, 
and  to  adapt  the  owners  themselves  to  country  life. 

Baretti  gives  an  interesting  picture  of  this  rural  existence 
in  the  18th  century, —  when  it  was  at  the  height  of  fash- 
ion, before  revolutionary  times:  "  The  Milanese  —  generally 
pass  the  greater  part  of  the  summer  and  the  whole  autumn 
in  the  country;  —  Monte  di  Brianza,  where  their  country- 
houses  chiefly  lie,  is  in  my  opinion  the  most  delightful  in 

4  That  is,  excluded  from  the  immediate  grounds. — Lady  Morgan's 
"  Italy,"  Vol.  I. 


80  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

all  Italy. — There  they  retire  —  and  pass  the  time  in  a 
perpetual  round  of  merriment,  eating,  drinking,  dancing  and 
visiting;  and  contributing  small  sums  towards  giving  por- 
tions to  the  pretty  wenches  in  the  neighbourhood. —  There 
the  richest  people  have  their  cappucinas;  that  is,  a  part  of 
their  country-houses  built  after  the  manner  of  a  Capjuchin 
convent,  distributed  into  many  small  bedrooms,  like  cells, 
for  the  reception  of  their  visitors,  who  are  always  welcome 
provided  they  come  fully  resolved  to  eat  plentifully,  to  talk 
loudly,  and  be  very  merry."  5 

That  they  had  abundant  need  for  this  supply  of  small 
rooms  is  shown  by  Lady  Mary  Wortley  Montagu's  experience 
in  1747,  when  she  had  but  just  settled  in  a  rented  villa: 
"I  had  a  visit" — she  wrote  to  the  Countess  of  Bute  — 
"  from  thirty  horse  of  ladies  and  gentlemen,  with  their  serv- 
ants. They  came  with  the  kind  intent  of  staying  with  me 
at  least  a  fortnight,  though  I  had  never  seen  any  of  them 
before ;  but  they  were  all  neighbours  within  ten  miles  around. 
I  could  not  avoid  entertaining  them  at  supper. —  I  sent  for 
the  fiddles,  and  they  were  so  obliging  as  to  dance  all  night, 
and  even  dine  with  me  the  next  day,  though  none  of  them 
had  been  in  bed ;  and  were  much  disappointed  I  did  not  ask 
them  to  stay,  it  being  the  fashion  to  go  in  troops  to  one  an- 
other's houses,  hunting  and  dancing  together  a  month  in  each 
castle."  6 

' — At  the  station  of  Usmate  I  changed  to  the  train  from 
the  north,  and  headed  southwestward  to  Monza.  The  Bri- 
anza  was  soon  left  far  behind,  and  I  rolled  again  through  the 
flat,  thickly  settled,  and  highly  cultivated  plain,  whose  villages 

5  Baretti's  "  Manners  and   Customs  in  Italy,"  Vol.  II. 

6  The  Letters  and  Works  of  Lady  Mary  Wortley  Montagu,  Vol. 
II,    edited   by  Lord   Wharcliffe. 


MONZA  AND  THE  IRON  CROWN  81 

and  habitations  became  ever  more  numerous  as  we  approached 
Milan.  This  was  the  Milanese  proper,  one  of  the  few  richest 
and  most  densely  populated  tracts  of  the  earth's  surface. 
The  inhabitants,  from  their  large  proportion  of  Swiss  and 
German  blood,  are  quite  different  from  the  rest  of  Italians; 
they  share  the  northern  keen  commercial  spirit,  being  some- 
times called  the  Yankees  of  Italy.  They  are  more  ingenious, 
resourceful,  hard-working,  orderly,  advanced  in  knowledge 
and  the  applied  sciences,  and  of  more  cleanly  habits.  What 
was  said  of  them  long  ago  still  holds  good :  they  "  value  them- 
selves upon  their  being  de  bon  cceur  —  good-natured.  They 
are  commonly  compared  to  the  Germans  for  their  honesty, 
to  the  French  for  fondness  of  pomp  and  elegance  in  equipages 
and  household  furniture;  and  —  they  resemble  likewise  the 
English  in  their  love  of  good  eating,  as  well  as  in  their  talk- 
ing rather  too  long  and  too  often  about  it."  7  Their  invari- 
ably genial  nature,  which  is  still  everywhere  displayed  to 
the  grateful  traveller,  was  noted  also  in  the  18th  century 
by  Mrs.  Piozzi,  who  write,  " '  II  buon  cuor  Lombardo  '  is 
famed  throughout  all  Italy,  and  nothing  can  become 
proverbial  without  an  excellent  reason."  8 

My  thoughts  now  roved  to  the  little  city  which  I  was  so 
rapidly  approaching, —  an  elongated  town  of  13,000  people, 
stretching  along  the  old  highway  from  Milan  to  Usmate, 
some  eight  miles  north  of  the  metropolis.  Monza  is  of  much 
antiquity,  however,  and  had  considerable  importance  in  the 
days  of  the  Lombards;  they  erected  her  attractive  Cathedral, 
and  made  it  the  depository  of  their  Iron  Crown,  with  which 
so  many  a  monarch  has  been  crowned  there  during  the  past 
dozen  centuries.     Theodoric  himself  was  attracted  by  Monza, 

7  Baretti's  "  Manners  and   Customs  in  Italy,"  Vol.  II. 

8  Mrs.  Piozzi's  "Glimpses  of  Italian  Society  in  the  18th  Century." 


82  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

and  built  a  palace  there  to  which  he  occasionally  resorted. 
But  it  was  Queen  Theodolinda  who  identified  herself  with 
the  place,  and  made  it  famous. 

This  lady,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  the  daughter  of  the 
Bavarian  King  Garibaldo  who  was  wooed  and  won  by  An- 
tharis,  King  of  the  Lombards,  while  visiting  their  court  in 
589,  disguised  in  the  train  of  his  own  ambassador.  Though 
the  marriage  was  terminated  after  a  short  time  by  the  death 
of  Antharis,  so  much  already  "  the  virtues  of  Theodolinda 
had  endeared  her  to  the  nation, —  she  was  permitted  to  be- 
stow, with  her  hand,  the  sceptre  of  the  Italian  Kingdom."  9 
She  wedded  this  time  Agilulf,  the  Lombard  Duke  of  Turin, 
who  seems  to  have  been  a  worthy  choice ;  they  went  to  dwell 
at  Monza,  and  Theodolinda  converted  her  bridegroom  and 
people  from  the  Aryan  to  the  Roman  faith,  which  averted 
a  threatened  assault  upon  the  Papacy.  Grateful  for  this 
double  success,  the  Queen  set  immediately  about  the  erection 
of  a  thanksgiving  offering,  in  the  shape  of  a  church  to  the 
Baptist;  this  was  the  first  Cathedral  of  Monza,  which  she 
endowed  with  her  famous  collection  of  royal  Lombard  treas- 
ures. 

According  to  the  legend,  a  heavenly  voice  spoke  to  Theodo- 
linda in  her  hour  of  meditation,  saying  that  the  church  should 
be  constructed  on  the  spot  where  stood  a  single  great  tree; 
and  it  concluded  with  the  Latin  word,  "  Modo," —  mean- 
ing, "  In  such  manner."  The  Queen  replied  at  once, 
"Etiam";  which  was  to  say,  "Even  so  will  I  do."  The 
spot  was  found,  the  building  commenced,  and  the  place  there- 
fore named  "  Modcetia,"  which  centuries  have  corrupted  into 
Monza. —  A  second  Cathedral  was  erected  after  several 
hundred  years,  in  the  romanesque  style;  and  when  that  too 
became  decayed  and  unsafe,  in  the   14th  century,  the  third 

»  Gibbon,  Vol.  IV,  Chap.  XLV. 


MONZA  AND  THE  IRON  CROWN  83 

and  present  structure  was  put  up,  in  the  Lombard  gothic 
manner,  by  the  same  brilliant  sculptor-architect,  Matteo  da 
Campione,  who  made  the  original  plans  for  the  mighty  ca- 
thedral of  Milan.  Thus  did  Monza  obtain  one  of  the  few 
most  splendid  gothic  churches  of  Italy. 

In  mediaeval  and  Renaissance  times  the  little  city  had  no 
distinctive  career  of  its  own ;  for  a  time  independent,  then 
tyrannised  by  the  Torricelli  and  Cavalazzi  families,  it  became 
subject  to  Milan  at  an  early  age.  The  Visconti  acquired  a 
palace-stronghold  in  Monza,  the  Forni,  now  disappeared,  in 
which  Galeazzo  I,  the  eldest  son  of  Matteo  II  Grande  and 
third  ruler  of  the  line,  constructed  a  suite  of  noisome  dun- 
geons for  their  political  prisoners ;  and  in  those  very  dungeons 
he  was  himself  soon  after  imprisoned,  together  with  his 
brothers  Lucchino  and  Stefano  and  his  son  Azzo,  by  the 
Emperor  Louis  of  Bavaria,  who  acted  thus  as  a  result  of  the 
treacherous  intrigues  of  a  fourth  brother,  Marco  Visconti,  in 
1327.  They  were  released  after  eight  months  of  misery, 
thanks  to  the  influence  of  the  celebrated  despot  of  Lucca, 
Castruccio  Castracani.  Galeazzo  died  the  next  year,  and 
Azzo  bought  the  Duchy  of  Milan  back  from  the  Emperor 
for  60,000  florins;  after  which,  in  1329,  he  revenged  himself 
and  his  father  by  the  murder  of  Marco. —  At  Monza  also, 
Filippo  Maria  Visconti  fought  the  battle  "  by  which  he 
acquired  his  brother's  inheritance,  and  the  only  battle  in 
which  he  was  ever  present ;  he  remarked  the  brilliant  courage 
of  Francesco  Carmagnola,  a  Piedmontese  soldier  of  fortune, 
and  immediately  gave  him  a  command."  10  This  was  the 
start  of  the  latter's  great  career,  which  became  eventually  so 
disastrous  to  both  Filippo  and  himself. 

It  was  at  Monza,  according  to  Symonds,  that  Bartolomeo 
Colleoni  was  imprisoned  by  Filippo  in  1446.     "  The  Duke 

10  Sismondi's  "  History  of  the   Italian  Republics." 


84  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

yielded  to  the  suggestion  of  his  parasites  at  Milan,  who  whis- 
pered that  the  general  was  becoming  dangerously  powerful. 
He  recalled  him,  and  threw  him  without  trial  into  the  dun- 
geons of  the  Forni  at  Monza.  Here  Colleoni  remained  a 
prisoner  more  than  a  year,  until  the  Duke's  death,  in 
1447." 1X  Just  about  this  same  time,  in  1444,  the  only 
Renaissance  painter  of  merit  to  whom  the  city  gave  birth, 
Troso  da  Monza,  was  executing  various  frescoes  of  the  life 
of  Theodolinda  in  the  Cathedral  of  S.  Giovanni  Battista, 
which  are  still  to  be  seen. 

When  my  train  drew  into  the  long,  covered  shed  of  the 
station,  shortly  before  noon,  there  was  upon  every  hand  a 
crowd,  a  bustle,  a  confusion  of  business,  such  as  one  finds  only 
in  the  vicinity  of  a  great  city,  and  which  seemed  to  indicate 
that  Monza  must  be  growing  rapidly  above  the  small  size  of 
13,000  population.  Emerging,  I  found  myself  upon  the  old 
highway  from  Milan  to  the  north — which  forms  the  long 
main  street  of  the  city, —  and  fully  a  mile  to  the  south  of 
the  latter's  centre.  Three-  and  four-storied,  stuccoed  build- 
ings of  very  modern  look  lined  the  way,  their  ground  floors 
occupied  by  shops  and  cafes;  electric  double-decked  tram- 
cars  from  the  metropolis  whirled  by  every  few  minutes;  and 
throngs  of  hurrying  vehicles  and  pedestrians  filled  the  rest  of 
the  thoroughfare. 

What  a  contrast  was  this  from  sleepy,  retired  old  Bergamo 
on  its  ancient  hilltop ;  I  felt  as  if  I  had  suddenly  stepped  into 
the  modern  riot  of  Paris  or  London.  Led  by  a  facchino 
carrying  my  bag,  I  walked  a  block  or  two  to  the  north,  to 
what  I  was  assured  was  the  principal  albergo;  though  occu- 
pying a  new  building,  it  proved  to  be  in  arrangements  and 
service  in  no  way  superior  to  any  little  inn  of  the  most  rural 

11  Symonds'  "  Sketches  and  Studies  in  Italy." 


MONZA  AND  THE  IRON  CROWN  85 

place.  But  I  was  given  a  well-furnished  bedroom,  and  a  fair 
lunch;  then  started  northward  again,  by  tramcar. 

A  mile  was  quickly  passed,  and  the  car  came  to  its  terminal 
stop  in  a  fair-sized  piazza  surrounded  by  buildings  several 
centuries  old,  with  its  centre  occupied  by  a  picturesque  edifice 
of  the  trecento;  this  was  entirely  raised  upon  high  pointed 
archways,  two  in  breadth  and  five  in  length,  which  con- 
stituted a  remarkable  open  loggia.  The  material  was  un- 
plastered  brick,  except  for  the  quadrangular  stone  piers.  The 
single  upper  story  was  capped  by  a  gabled  roof ;  it  held  upon 
the  southern  face  two  fine  old  romanesque  windows,  double- 
arched,  with  marble  shafts,  and  between  them  the  original 
massive,  stone  7-i«o7//Vra-balcony,  crowned  by  a  canopy.  Each 
side  was  happily  adorned  with  five  similar  romanesque  win- 
dows, regular  and  pleasing;  the  brick  voussoirs  of  their  en- 
closing arches,  as  well  as  those  of  the  loggia,  were  inter- 
spaced with  three  or  five  marble  blocks,  in  the  delightful  old 
Lombard  fashion.  Upon  the  eastern  side  rose  the  heavy 
municipal  tower,  likewise  of  brick,  to  a  belfry  of  double, 
pointed  arches.  This  fascinating  structure  was,  of  course, 
the  Municipio,  known  also  as  Palazzo  Arengario ;  and  the 
square  wTas  the  Piazza  Roma,  the  original  market-place  of 
the  town. 

Close  by  on  the  southeast  I  found  the  Cathedral,  rising 
upon  the  east  side  of  a  considerably  larger  piazza,  that  was 
surrounded  only  by  simple  dwelling-houses,  and  lay  quiet 
and  deserted  in  the  midday  heat.  The  space  was  well  paved 
in  brick,  with  checker-board  lines  of  white  stone,  in  the  medi- 
aeval manner;  and  before  the  church  rose  a  singular  renais- 
sance monument,  consisting  of  twin  ionic  marble  columns, 
tall  and  slender,  upon  a  six-foot  pedestal,  capped  by  a  frag- 
ment of  entablature,  with  a  wooden  crucifix  at  the  apex. — But 


86  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

that  which  dazzled  my  eyes  immediately  upon  entering 
the  place,  paling  all  else  to  insignificance  and  absorbing  my 
amazed  attention,  was  the  extraordinary,  brilliantly  coloured 
fagade  of  the  Cathedral,  which  seemed  at  first  one  mighty 
riot  of  gay  hues,  soaring  spires,  and  beautiful  gothic  decora- 
tion. 

It  was  the  new  fagade,  put  up  in  1899-1901,  but  in  the 
original  design  of  Matteo  Campione,  fashioned  entirely  of 
broad  stripes  of  white  and  dark  grey  marbles, —  much  like  the 
rich  Tuscan  gothic  of  the  cathedrals  of  Florence  and  Siena. 
It  gleamed  in  the  bright  sunshine  from  every  varied  wall-sur- 
face, and  glistened  from  the  multitudinous  carvings  of  its  win- 
dows, cornices,  and  portal,  with  a  glorious  effect,  the  more  as- 
tonishing because  so  unexpected.  Only  one  who  has  wandered 
long  among  stuccoed  renaissance  and  vile  rococo,  with  their 
everlasting  sameness,  can  realise  the  joy  with  which  I  sud- 
denly confronted  this  great  temple  of  brightest  marble  and 
delicate  aspiring  lines;  even  the  critical  Street  was  obliged 
to  confess  it,  "  a  very  fine  example  of  Italian  gothic."  12 

Six  broad  pilaster-strips  in  Lombard  style,  simulating  but- 
tresses and  capped  by  spires,  divided  the  face  into  five  com- 
partments, the  central  containing  the  single  portal  and  rose 
window.  The  square  doorway  and  its  decorated  lunette 
were  deeply  recessed,  with  gothic  mouldings,  and  covered  by 
a  handsome  porch  upheld  on  slender  red  marble  columns ;  the 
round  arch  of  the  latter  was  adorned  with  rich  pendant 
cusps,  its  spandrels  embellished  with  open  medallions,  con- 
taining half-figures  of  saints,  and  around  its  top  ran  an 
exquisite  parapet  of  small  gables  and  pinnacles.  The  frame 
of  the  huge  rose  window  consisted  of  a  series  of  square  coffers, 
and  a  blind  arcade  of  round  arches.  The  two  outer  compart- 
ments of  the  fagade  held  each  a  recessed,  double,  gothic  win- 

12  Street's  "Brick  and  Marble  Architecture  of  the  Middle  Ages." 


MONZA  AND  THE  IRON  CROWN  87 

dow,  with  a  little  round  opening  above  it,  in  a  square  frame ; 
the  compartments  flanking  the  central  division  contained 
each  a  beautiful  triple  gothic  window,  with  fine  marble 
mullions  and  tracery,  a  double  round-arched  window  over- 
head —  more  like  renaissance  work  —  and  another  little 
round  aperture,  like  a  tiny  rose  window,  at  the  top. 

Between  the  spires  of  the  buttresses  —  which  consisted,  at 
the  corners,  of  two  delightful,  dainty,  gothic  canopies,  en- 
closing statues  —  the  gabled  eaves  sloped  upward  in  suc- 
cessive steps;  they  were  underlined  by  a  charming,  arcaded, 
white  marble  cornice  —  of  trefoil  arches  upon  long  slim 
shafts;  they  carried  rows  of  heavy  white  crockets,  and  ter- 
minated at  the  apex  in  another  pinnacled  canopy,  which  was 
"  certainly  very  beautiful,  of  precisely  the  same  type  as  the 
pinnacles  on  some  of  the  tombs  of  the  Scaligers  at  Verona."  12a 
The  chief  effect,  however,  lay  in  the  graceful  porch  and  the 
large  mass  of  carvings  around  and  above  the  rose  window. 
It  had  little  of  the  regularity  of  northern  gothic, —  the  low- 
est row  of  windows,  for  instance,  was  not  upon  the  same 
level,  but  sloped  upward  with  the  eaves;  and,  like  true 
Lombard  forms,  its  height  was  entirely  incommensurate  with 
its  breadth.  The  pleasure  which  it  conferred  came  from 
the  colouring  and  the  details  rather  than  the  mass. — Adjacent 
upon  the  left,  in  utter  want  of  harmony,  rose  the  heavy, 
square,  stuccoed,  renaissance  campanile,  bearing  a  painted 
clock-face,  lifting  to  twice  the  height  of  the  church  its  ugly 
domed  belfry  of  rococo  design;  this  was  added  much  later, 
about  1600. 

"  All  the  remainder  of  the  Duomo  is  of  red  brick,  with  some 
particularly  good  detail. — There  is  a  large,  low  cloister  on 
the  north  side,  and  from  this  the  central  tower  (over  the  in- 
tersection of  nave  and  transepts)    is  best  seen;  it  is  of  two 

12a  Street's  "Brick  and  Marble  Architecture  of  the  Middle  Ages." 


88  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

stages,  in  brick  and  stone,  a  good  deal  arcaded,  and  has  a 
pyramidal  tiled  roof,  with  a  square  turret  in  the  centre. 
This  forms  a  dome  internally  (in  the  Lombard  romanesque 
manner)  which  is,  however, —  as  is  the  whole  church  — 
miserably  modernised."  13  All  of  the  interior  was  renovated 
in  the  execrable  baroque  style,  during  the  1 8th  century. 

I  approached  to  examine  the  attractive  portal  more  closely. 
The  relief  in  the  lunette  was  clearly  of  the  period  of  the 
church's  construction  —  the  trecento  —  and  was  not  only, 
therefore,  quaintly  primitive,  but  also  happened  to  be  unusu- 
ally excellent  in  the  grouping  and  modelling  of  its  many 
figures,  which  were  arranged  in  two  separate  dramatic  tab- 
leaux, of  much  expressiveness  and  grace.  The  lower  repre- 
sented the  Baptism  of  Christ;  originality  was  shown  in  the 
manner  of  its  performance, —  the  holy  water  being  poured 
upon  the  Saviour  from  a  vessel  in  the  beak  of  the  Dove  of 
the  Holy  Spirit, —  while  an  angel  held  the  garments,  and  the 
Virgin  with  the  Baptist  and  Sts.  Peter  and  Paul  stood  grouped 
around.     Campione  himself  must  have  executed  these  reliefs. 

The  upper  tableau  was  an  apotheosis  of  St.  John  and 
Queen  Theodolinda,  the  latter  being  shown  in  the  act  of 
offering  a  jewelled  crown  to  the  Baptist,  surrounded  by  her 
second  husband  Agilulf,  her  daughter  Gundiberga,  and  her 
son  Adaloaldo,  who  held  a  dove ;  while  round  about  appeared 
several  others  of  the  famous  treasures  which  Theodolinda 
bestowed  upon  this  Cathedral  of  the  Saint.  These  last  were 
especially  interesting  to  me,  depicted  here  so  long  ago,  demon- 
strating that  they  had  then  the  same  renown  which  they 
enjoy  today ;  for  they  form  the  greatest  collection  of  Lom- 
bard valuables  in  the  world,  as  I  have  hereinbefore  indicated, 
and  are  the  chief  inducement  for  a  visit  to  Monza.  Like  the 
preservation  of  St.  Peltrude's  chapel  at  Cividale,  by  the  en- 

13  Street's  "  Brick   and  Marble  Architecture  of  the  Middle  Ages." 


MONZA  AND  THE  IRON  CROWN  89 

closing  nunnery,  during  a  thousand  years,  so  these  artistic 
treasures,  displaying  the  powers  of  the  Lombards  as  gold- 
smiths, have  luckily  been  kept  safe  and  together  through  the 
piety  of  Theodolinda,  in  the  ever  guarded  treasury  of  the 
Duomo. 

Though  prepared  for  baroque  horrors  of  renovation,  on 
my  entrance  to  the  nave  I  was  greeted  by  another  disap- 
pointment :  the  roof  was  so  low  as  to  have  a  crushing,  dwarf- 
ing effect,  and  all  the  other  dimensions  seemed  likewise 
too  small;  while  the  whole  of  the  wall-spaces  was  com- 
pletely covered  with  hideous  decadent  frescoes,  whose  dis- 
gusting forms  flourished  also  over  the  vaulting,  the  choir, 
the  transepts,  the  walls  and  ceilings  of  the  aisles,  and  even 
the  side  chapels.  It  was  exceptionally  dark,  almost  the  only 
light  entering  from  the  rose  window  and  a  few  scattered 
small  ones;  but  the  darkness  could  not  hide  the  disfigure- 
ments. 

Low  as  was  the  nave,  the  aisles  were  much  lower,  flanked 
by  chapels  lower  still,  which  were  moderately  deep,  and  en- 
tered by  round  arches  in  the  stuccoed,  painted  walls.  The 
columns  fortunately  were  untouched, —  the  original,  roman- 
esque,  octagonal  stone  pillars,  having  capitals  composed  of 
grotesque  forms  of  animals  and  human  beings.  Directly 
above  them  extended  two  rows  of  large  decadent  paintings 
on  canvas.  The  pavement  was  good, —  tessellated  in  grey 
and  white  marbles;  and  the  dome  lent  a  certain  dignity  to 
the  choir. 

The  visitor's  pleasure  in  this  building  must  be  drawn 
from  the  few  decorations  of  the  earlier  Renaissance.  I  saw 
one  of  them  immediately  to  left  of  the  entrance,  a  Ma- 
donna and  Child  painted  upon  silk,  with  no  background  nor 
accessories,  simply  but  effectively  coloured,  and  the  flesh 
prettily   rounded.     A  lamp  burned   golden  beside  it  in  the 


9o  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

dusk,  and  a  woman  knelt  to  it  in  humble  prayer.  In  the 
first  chapel  to  the  left  stood  the  baptismal  font,  a  small, 
handsome  renaissance  structure  of  coloured  marbles, —  the 
base  white,  the  columns  grey  with  white  caps,  forming  an 
open  octagon,  with  a  red  cornice  and  white  dome.  In  the 
second  chapel  was  a  Visitation  by  Guercino,  on  canvas, 
mostly  darkened,  except  for  the  Madonna's  red  robes,  and 
showing  an  earnest  but  unsuccessful  attempt  to  be  realistic 
in  the  setting. 

The  last  two  pillars  on  each  side  were  round,  and  before 
them  projected  twin  gilt  music-lofts,  thus  unusually  prom- 
inent and  out  of  place.  The  frescoes  on  the  end  wall  of  the 
left  transept  surpassed  all  the  others  in  horror,  their  fearful 
giant  figures  being  supposed  to  represent  scenes  from  the 
Baptist's  life ;  but  beneath  them  I  noticed  an  engaging  marble 
relief  of  the  Madonna's  head ;  and  in  the  adjacent  chapel  to 
left  of  the  choir  were  gathered  the  most  interesting  and  pleas- 
ing objects  of  the  church  proper, —  including  the  paintings 
of  Troso  da  Monza,  spread  over  all  three  walls.  By  some 
critics  these  have  been  ascribed  to  the  brothers  Zavattari. 
They  are  scenes  from  the  life  of  Queen  Theodolinda,  espe- 
cially the  story  of  the  building  of  the  Cathedral, —  in  the 
restricted  manner  of  the  Giottesque  school,  and  considerably 
damaged. 

"  It  is  not  easy  to  follow  his  inventions,  somewhat  confused 
and  new  in  regard  to  the  drapery  and  the  Longobardish  cus- 
toms which  he  has  here  exhibited.  There  are  some  good 
heads,  and  colouring  by  no  means  despicable;  for  the  rest, 
it  is  a  mediocre  production,  and  perhaps  executed  early  in 
life.  He  is  an  artist  much  praised  by  Tomazzo  for  his  other 
works  which  he  left  at  the  Palazzo  Landi."  14 

Quite   in   accordance   with    this   decoration,    the   tomb   of 

14  Lanzi's  "  History  of  Painting,"  Vol.  II. 


MONZA  AND  THE  IRON  CROWN  91 

Theodolinda  rested  here,  against  the  back-wall;  but  it  was 
surprisingly  plain, —  a  simple,  unadorned,  stone  sarcophagus, 
with  a  gabled  cover  and  upright  corners,  upheld  by  four 
small  columns  with  rounded  foliage-caps.  This  indication 
of  the  gothic  was  explained  by  the  sacristan's  statement  that 
it  was  a  14th  century  work,  to  which  the  remains  had  been 
transferred  when  the  present  Duomo  was  erected.  There 
can  be  nothing  left  of  them  now,  unless  it  be  a  little  dust; 
yet  it  was  affecting  to  think  of  the  royal  state  and  labours, 
the  admirable  Christian  character,  which  that  dust  had  sus- 
tained so  long  ago ;  and  now  I  was  to  see  the  very  treasures 
which  it  had  lovingly  handled,  and  bestowed  upon  this  same 
church  (at  least  the  same  in  its  foundations),  still  unaltered, 
undiminished,  from  the  day  it  gave  them.  How  unjust  it 
seems  (a  trite  thought,  yet  here  unavoidable)  that  inanimate 
objects  should  so  indefinitely  survive  the  person  that  made 
them. 

The  greatest  object  of  this  chapel  yet  remains  to  be  men- 
tioned,—  the  object  that  made  Monza  famous  for  a  thou- 
sand years :  within  the  simple  altar,  enclosed  in  two  successive 
strong  boxes,  locked  with  many  separate  keys,  reposes  the 
Iron  Crown  of  Lombardy!  It  is  shown  to  the  people  but 
once  a  year,  upon  a  certain  jesta,  and  at  all  other  times  can 
be  seen  only  by  the  payment  of  5  lire  to  the  verger.  As  far 
as  concerns  the  ascertaining  of  its  appearance,  however,  that 
disbursement  is  unnecessary;  for  above  the  altar,  within  the 
glass-covered  centre  of  a  large  cross,  hangs  an  exact  duplicate 
of  this  historic  treasure,  even  to  the  attached  pendant  cross 
which  was  worn  by  the  Lombard  kings  upon  the  breast. 
Since  one  is  not  permitted  to  handle  the  original,  an  inspec- 
tion of  this  duplicate  is  fully  as  informing;  still  it  does  not 
convey  the  thrill,  the  upsurging  of  crowded  recollections, 
which  are  started  by  the  first  sight  of  that  simple  band  of 


92  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

gold  and  iron,  which  so  many  monarchs  placed  upon  their 
brows,  and  for  which  such  numberless  lives  were  sacrificed 
during  a  whole  millennium. 

Many  of  the  visitors  are  astonished  that  they  behold  no 
iron  at  all —  only  a  circlet  of  gold,  moderately  adorned  with 
upright  points  and  jewels;  but  on  looking  at  the  inside,  a  fine 
dark  line  of  the  baser  metal  is  observed,  forming  a  slender  ring 
within  the  band.  This  was  beaten  from  what  the  Lombard 
kings  believed  to  be  a  nail  of  the  true  cross,  which  was  ac- 
quired by  Theodolinda,  and  esteemed  by  her  successors  be- 
yond all  other  relics.  St.  Helena,  the  mother  of  Constan- 
tine  the  Great,  who  discovered  the  cross  buried  underground, 
according  to  the  legend,  sent  some  of  its  nails  to  her  imperial 
son;  and  it  was  one  of  these  that  finally  descended  to  Queen 
Theodolinda,  whose  successors  beat  it  into  the  circlet  form. 
From  the  crown's  long  use  in  the  royal  Lombard  corona- 
tions here  at  Monza,  came  the  general  feeling  that  it  was 
inseparable  from  the  sway  of  Italy,  and  that  whatsoever  bore 
it  had  a  sanctified  right  to  the  Italian  kingdom.  "  When 
the  dynasty  —  fell  in  the  person  of  Desiderius,  and  the  Iron 
Crown  of  Lombardy  for  the  first  time  encircled  the  brow  of 
a  foreign  visitor, —  Charlemagne,  who  had  won  it  at  the 
head  of  his  Franks,  affected  to  receive  it  at  the  hands  of  the 
Roman  Pontiff."  15  That  was  the  ceremony  of  Christmas 
Day,  in  the  year  800,  at  Rome. 

Later  the  "  north  and  south  of  Italy  were  alike  claimed 
by  the  German  kaiser,  who,  as  inheritor  of  Charlemagne's 
empire,  called  all  men  his  vassals  and  made  them  such  if  he 
were  able.  The  old  and  fixed  German  idea  was  that  to  the 
successor  of  the  great  Charles  belonged  the  Iron  Crown  of 
Monza, —  the   homage,   the  lands,   and   the  money  of   their 

15  Lady  Morgan's   "  Italy,"   Vol.   I. 


MONZA  AND  THE  IRON  CROWN  93 

Italian  subjects."  16  And  alas,  what  a  river  of  life-blood 
was  poured  out  by  the  two  Fredericks,  and  their  successors, 
to  make  that  claim  acknowledged.  When  they  had  at  last 
failed,  French  and  Spanish  sovereigns  fought  over  this  same 
crown  upon  the  blood-soaked  plain,  until  Charles  V  emerged 
as  conqueror;  and  it  was  at  Bologna  in  1530  that  he  received 
it  upon  his  brow,  as  King  of  Italy,  from  the  hands  of  the 
treacherous  Medicean  Pope. 

To  the  Spaniards  succeeded  the  avaricious  Austrians, — 
whose  monarchs  thought  more  of  the  Iron  Crown  than  of 
the  sway  of  their  northern  Empire,  who  spent  their  lives  and 
fortunes  in  struggling  to  preserve  it,  and  indulged  in  great 
ceremonies  of  coronation  to  demonstrate  their  ownership  of 
Lombardy.  Last,  and  perhaps  most  interesting  of  all,  came 
that  wonderful  self-made  ruler  who  loosened  the  German 
grip,  and  constituted  Italy  the  first  star  in  his  galaxy  of 
kingdoms:  Napoleon,  Emperor  of  Europe,  Italian  in  blood 
and  secret  sympathies,  who  experienced  the  greatest  of  all 
his  joys  when  he  pompously  assumed  the  cherished  tiara  of 
so  many  conquerors  and  races. 

"  When  Napoleon  resolved  on  crowning  himself  with  the 
most  ancient  of  feudal  diadems,  he  gave  to  the  ceremony  all 
the  splendour,  and  all  the  imposition,  of  which  it  was  suscepti- 
ble. His  journey  to  Milan  was  like  the  triumph  of  a  Ro- 
man Emperor. —  The  procession  which  conveyed  the  crown 
from  Monza  was  singular ;  it  was  led  by  a  guard  of  honour  on 
horseback, —  a  corps  of  the  Italian  guards ;  a  carriage  con- 
tained the  municipality  of  Monza ;  another  followed  with  the 
workmen  employed  to  remove  the  crown;  the  canons,  the 
syndic,  and  the  arciprete  of  the  Cathedral  of  Monza  suc- 
ceeded ;  and  last  came  a  carriage  with  the  Master  of  Cere- 
16  Blashfield's  "Italian   Cities,"   Vol.   II. 


94  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

monies  of  the  Imperial  Court,  bearing  the  crown  on  a  velvet 
cushion.  Twenty-five  of  Bonaparte's  Old  Guard  surrounded 
the  honoured  vehicle.  The  crown  was  received  in  Milan 
with  a  salvo  of  artillery,  and  the  ringing  of  bells,  and  at  the 
portal  of  the  Cathedral,  by  the  Cardinal  Archbishop  of 
Milan,  who  bore  it  through  the  church,  and  deposited  it  on 
the  altar.  The  guards  watched  round  it  during  the 
night."  " 

At  the  climax  of  the  stupendous  ceremony  next  day,  wit- 
nessed by  all  the  highest  dignitaries  of  Italy  in  gala  dress, 
"  Napoleon  received  from  the  Archbishop's  hands  the  sword, 
the  cloak,  and  the  ring,  but  he  took  himself  the  Iron  Crown 
from  the  altar,  and  proudly  placing  it  upon  his  head,  ex- 
claimed in  a  voice  that  thrilled  all  present:  ' Dio  me  la 
diede;  guai  a  chi  la  tocca!  ' "  18  Thus  did  he  who  never  could 
brook  the  thought  of  an  equal,  assert  his  self-made  superiority 
to  all  his  predecessors,  that  had  invariably  received  the  dia- 
dem from  the  Pope. 

Formerly,  in  Austrian  days,  it  was  much  more  difficult 
to  inspect  the  original  crown,  which  was  then  kept  where  the 
copy  now  hangs  but  hidden  from  view.  Lady  Morgan 
speaks  entertainingly  of  her  experience  with  their  "  red- 
tape  "  methods :  "  To  obtain  permission  to  inspect  this 
relic  was  a  matter  of  interest  and  time. —  The  order  was 
signed  by  the  Grand  Duke  and  countersigned  by  the  Gov- 
ernor of  Milan ;  and  it  was  despatched  the  night  before  our 
visit  to  the  Chapter  of  Monza. —  The  canon  who  conducted 
us  —  retired  to  robe  for  the  ceremony,  and  returned  in  grand 
pontic alibus ,  preceded  by  a  priest  with  a  torch,  and  some 
corici  in  their  white,  short  surplices.     When  they  arrived 

17  Lady  Morgan's  "  Italy,"   Vol.   I. 

18  "  God  gave  it  me ;  woe  to  him  who  touches  it." — Imbert  de 
Saint  Armand's  "  The  Court  of  the  Empress  Josephine." 


MONZA  AND  THE  IRON  CROWN  95 

before  the  shrine  of  the  Iron  Crown, —  the  priests  fell  pros- 
trate; the  sacristan  placed  a  ladder  against  the  cross,  ascended, 
opened  the  shrine,  and  displayed  the  treasure  in  the  blaze 
of  the  torch-lights;  the  priests  below  filled  the  air  with  vol- 
umes of  odorous  vapours,  flung  from  silver  censers,  and  noth- 
ing was  visible  but  the  blazing  jewels,  illuminated  by  the 
torch,  and  the  white  drapery  of  the  sacristan,  who  seemed 
suspended  in  mid-air." 

Upon  the  wall  of  the  left  transept  I  noticed  several  curious 
representations  of  the  crown  in  coloured  bas-reliefs,  showing 
the  slender  black  iron  circlet  within,  with  underwritten 
statements  concerning  the  last  three  coronations  at  which  it 
was  used.  On  the  right  wall  of  the  south  transept  is  another 
curious,  early  relief,  representing  the  coronation  here  of  the 
Emperor  Otho  III:  the  six  electors  of  the  Empire  stand 
beside  him,  the  first  of  them,  the  Count  of  Saxony,  holding 
the  imperial  sword ;  while  to  left  upon  the  altar  appear 
some  of  the  gifts  of  Theodolinda  to  the  Duomo.  This  was 
the  more  interesting  because  Matteo  da  Campione  himself 
is  said  to  have  been  the  sculptor.  Near  it  was  frescoed  a 
still  stranger,  enormous  Crucifixion,  with  the  cross  depicted 
as  the  branching  tree  of  the  Church. 

Two  later  paintings  adorned  the  faces  of  the  pillars  flank- 
ing the  entrance  to  the  choir,  single  life-size  figures  of  the 
cinquecento, —  a  St.  Joseph  by  C.  Proccacini,  and  a  S.  Gher- 
ardo  by  Luini,  the  latter  being  a  work  of  considerable  beauty. 
On  the  ornate  marble  balustrade  between  them  I  noticed, 
embossed,  the  queer  emblem  of  Theodolinda,  a  hen  with 
seven  chicks, —  the  little  ones  representing  the  seven  provinces 
of  her  kingdom.  Within  the  high-altar,  shown  on  the  first 
Sunday  of  September  only  (together  with  the  Iron  Crown) 
is  kept  the  celebrated  Paliotto  which  King  Berengarius  gave 
to  the  Cathedral, —  a  plate  of  gilded  silver,  graved  and  em- 


96  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

bossed,  representing  in  seventeen  scenes  the  principal  facts 
of  the  Baptist's  life;  it  is  also  inset  with  a  large  number  of 
precious  stones,  and  otherwise  elaborately  decorated. 

I  returned  to  the  left  transept,  and  through  the,  adjacent 
sacristy  entered  the  windowless  cabinet  which  constitutes  the 
Cathedral's  treasury.  It  is  an  octagonal  room,  with  a  huge 
cupboard  occupying  every  side  except  that  of  the  doorway. 
Their  double  wooden  doors,  very  heavy  and  some  fifteen  feet 
high,  were  locked  at  the  top,  middle  and  bottom  with  large 
keys,  and  further  secured  by  iron  bars  thrust  through  outer 
grooves,  and  also  locked.  The  agreeable,  well-informed 
verger  had  a  hard  task  in  the  simple  opening  of  all  these; 
but  when  they  were  opened,  the  dazzling  sight  that  burst 
upon  me  —  gleaming  gold,  shining  silver,  glistening  statues 
and  reliefs,  coruscating  gems  of  every  species,  row  upon  row 
and  case  after  case,  scintillating  innumerable  like  the  spoil 
of  ancient  Rome,  glowing  with  artistic  beauties  still  more 
invaluable, —  for  awhile  in  truth  overwhelmed  me  with  won- 
der and  admiration.  I  had  seen  many  a  cathedral  treasury, 
many  a  museum's  thesaurus,  many  a  store  of  royal  jewels, — 
but  never  anything  approaching  this,  in  amount,  variety,  or 
historical  and  artistic  value. 

Crosses,  cups,  vases,  medallions,  chalices,  monstrances, 
pyxes,  crucifixes,  statuettes,  lamps,  candelabra,  platters, 
mitres,  coffers,  goblets,  ewers,  urns,  epergnes,  reliquaries, 
vessels  of  every  shape  and  size,  all  glittering  in  gold  or  sil- 
ver, embossed,  engraved,  perforated,  damascened,  intagliated, 
relieved  sumptuously  with  figures  and  designs,  and  in  large 
part  set  with  iridescent  gems,  cymophanous  or  prismatic  as 
the  changing  hues  of  the  chameleon, —  they  were  of  every  size 
and  nature,  of  every  make  and  manner,  of  every  epoch  since 
Roman  days,  from  Theodolinda's  gifts  of  the  5th  and  6th 
centuries  through  all  the  Middle  Ages,  to  the  latest  Renais- 


MONZA  AND  THE  IRON  CROWN  97 

sance.  And  not  only  goldsmith's  work  was  here;  I  saw 
diptychs  and  other  reliquaries  of  the  most  precious  ivory 
carving,  delicate  ancient  glassware,  dainty  terra-cotta,  valua- 
ble papyrus,  oriental  silks  and  other  cloths,  exquisite  leather- 
work,  ceramics  of  varied  nature,  etc., —  the  few  of  less  in- 
trinsic worth  being  venerated  for  their  historical  associa- 
tions. 

Several  of  the  cases  were  entirely  filled  with  the  vases, 
urns,  candelabra,  and  other  objects  of  large  size,  a  great  many 
of  them  standing  two  and  three  feet  high, —  of  solid  silver, 
decorated  with  engravings  and  reliefs.  The  central  case, 
and  the  second  upon  the  left,  were  devoted  to  the  smaller 
and  more  precious  articles.  In  the  latter  —  to  mention  a 
few  of  those  most  noteworthy  —  I  observed  three  splendid 
crosses  of  gold,  covered  with  sparkling  gems  of  inestimable 
worth:  one  of  the  6th  century,  with  five  golden  pendants, 
which  hung  from  the  crown  of  King  Agilulf;  another,  the 
"  Croce  del  Regno"  which  was  worn  with  the  Iron  Crown, 
distinguished  by  a  beautiful  amethyst  with  an  intagliated 
figure  of  Diana,  that  was  given  to  Theodolinda  by  St.  Greg- 
ory; the  third,  a  pectoral  cross  of  the  7th  century,  given  by 
St.  Gregory  to  the  Queen's  son  Adaloaldo,  upon  which  the 
Crucifixion  is  executed  in  niello.  In  the  same  cupboard 
stood  Theodolinda's  own  crown,  glistening  with  large  jewels 
set  in  Lombard  style ;  her  original  emblem  of  the  hen  and 
seven  chicks,  of  gilded  silver  with  gems  for  eyes ;  her  famous 
Sapphire  Cup,  said  to  have  been  cut  from  a  single  stone,  the 
largest  sapphire  in  the  world,  and  supported  by  a  chiselled 
gold  chalice  of  the  quattrocento;  her  filagreed  gold  reliquary, 
alleged  to  contain  some  teeth  and  other  portions  of  St.  John 
the  Baptist,  its  face  adorned  with  a  great  many  jewels;  and 
a  magnificent  large  trecento  goblet  of  enamelled  gilt  silver, 
embellished  with  many  little  figures  of  saints,  which  formerly 


98  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

belonged  to  Gian  Galeazzo  Visconti,  as  is  indicated  by  his 
arms  upon  it.  There  were  also  many  other  precious  gifts  of 
Theodolinda. 

Amongst  the  countless  treasures  of  the  central  case  I  ob- 
served but  a  few  ancient  pieces, —  a  6th  century,  Greek, 
terra-cotta  medallion,  and  some  ivory  diptychs  of  the  5th 
to  the  7th  century,  one  of  which  represented  Galla  Placidia 
with  her  son  Valentinian  III  and  the  brilliant  general  Actius 
whom  he  slew.19  The  rest  were  Renaissance  works,  includ- 
ing five  beautiful  ivory  carvings  of  the  14th  to  the  17th  cen- 
tury, both  French  and  Italian,  an  exquisite  patena  of  silver- 
gilt,  engraved  with  a  Madonna  and  Child,  dated  1807,  a 
large  pyx  of  gilded  brass,  of  the  seicento,  and  three  exquisite 
chalices  of  that  and  the  succeeding  century,  of  silver-gilt, 
copper,  and  copper-gilt,  handsomely  adorned  with  sculpture 
and  precious  stones. 

Upon  the  right  were  chiefly  large  pieces, —  prominent 
among  them,  a  great  crucifix  carrying  a  golden  Christ,  both 
the  sides  brilliantly  relieved  with  dramatic  scenes  from  the 
lives  of  the  Baptist  and  St.  Gherardo, —  a  17th  century  work. 
Here  also  were  sumptuous  silver  episcopal  croziers,  beau- 
tiful silver  candelabra  with  gilt  trimmings,  and  pompous 
monstrances  with  glistening  golden  rays  and  foci  of  pearls 
and  garnets.  One  monstrance  in  the  third  case  on  the  left, 
an  immense  one,  was  heavily  gilded  and  blazed  with  the 
fires  of  1270  precious  stones;  and  two  mitres  in  the  first  case 
were  almost  solid  masses  of  gold  and  varied  jewellery, — 
Sicilian  handiwork  of  the  13th  century.  What  interested  me 
even  more  was  the  little  worn  breviary  lying  beside  them, 
looking  incongruously  simple  and  poor,  which  was  once  the 
pocket-companion  of  the  noble   Saint  Carlo  Borromeo. 

19  Vide  "Plain-Towns  of  Italy":  the  chapters  on  Brescia,  with 
account  of  the  Cross  of  Galla  Placidia,  and  of  her  life. 


MONZA  AND  THE  IRON  CROWN  99 

As  I  gazed  at  these  incredible  masses  of  precious  stones, — 
especially  those  of  Theodolinda  and  the  earlier  ages,  which 
are  larger  and  purer,  and  scattered  profusely  in  the 
crude  Lombard  settings  as  one  would  throw  pebbles  upon 
the  ground, —  again  that  feeling  of  the  infinite  wealth  of 
ancient  Rome  came  upon  me,  which  had  arisen  when  I  be- 
held the  single  cross  of  Galla  Placidia  at  Brescia;  but  it 
was  tenfold  stronger  here,  where  glittered  the  riches  of  a 
kingdom.  Most  of  these  jewels  were  Roman  once,  without 
a  doubt,  beginning  with  those  of  Theodolinda  and  the  Lom- 
bards, which  they  had  but  just  seized  from  the  hands  of 
Gothic  spoilers.  The  picture  of  the  Imperial  City  in  her 
full  pride  of  majesty  and  splendour  rose  before  my  mental 
eye:  those  miles  of  stately  forums,  porticoes,  temples,  basil- 
icas, baths,  palaces, —  those  hundreds  of  miles  of  majestic 
avenues,  those  thousands  of  statues,  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  columns,  millions  of  people;  then  the  awful  horror  of  the 
inrushing  barbaric  hosts,  savage,  uncouth,  dressed  in  skins 
and  iron,  ravaging  like  bestial  madmen  amongst  what  they 
could  not  comprehend,  pillaging,  destroying,  applying  the 
ruthless  torch;  and  of  all  that  peerless  grandeur,  from  those 
scenes  the  most  heart-rending  of  earth's  history,  now  there 
remain  to  us  only  a  few  broken  marbles  in  Rome,  and  these 
precious  stones,  scattered  through  the  treasuries  of  Europe. 
I  thought  of  Gibbon's  description  of  the  first  sack,  made  by 
Alaric  and  his  Visigoths  in  410. 

"  In  the  pillage  —  a  just  preference  was  given  to  gold  and 
jewels  —  but  after  these  portable  riches  had  been  removed 
by  the  most  diligent  robbers,  the  palaces  of  Rome  were  rudely 
stripped  of  their  splendid  and  costly  furniture.  The  side- 
boards of  massy  plate,  and  the  variegated  wardrobes  of  silk 
and  purple,  were  irregularly  piled  in  the  wagons,  that  always 
followed  the  march  of  a  Gothic  army.     The  most  delicate 


ioo  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

works  of  art  were  roughly  handled,  or  wantonly  destroyed ; 
many  a  statue  was  melted  for  the  sake  of  the  precious  ma- 
terials; and  many  a  vase,  in  the  division  of  the  spoil,  was 
shivered  into  fragments  by  the  stroke  of  a  battle-axe."  20 

—  The  verger  next  led  me  through  a  doorway  in  the  left 
aisle,  adjacent  to  the  transept,  into  an  open  passage  or  sort  of 
little  court  upon  which  the  sacristy-window  looked, —  also 
the  three  windows  of  the  Archivio  above  it,  having  gothic 
trecento  frames  very  beautifully  ornamented  in  terracotta. 
Opposite  these  another  doorway  and  a  corridor  admitted  us 
to  a  small  ancient  cloister,  once  used  as:  a  cemetery,  now 
deserted  and  decaying.  In  the  wall  of  its  west  corridor  the 
verger  unlocked  and  swung  open  a  concealed  door,  revealing 
to  my  startled  gaze  a  complete  skeleton  covered  with  its 
shrunken  flesh,  standing  upright  before  me,  fastened  to  the 
back  of  a  narrow  closet  with  a  glass  face ;  though  its  left  foot 
and  ankle  were  in  place,  the  leg-bones  had  been  violently 
severed  just  above  the  ankle,  showing  the  evident  cause  of  the 
unfortunate's  disease.  It  was  a  tall  frame,  nearly  six  feet 
in  height ;  and  all  the  parts  were  so  well  preserved  that  it  did 
not  seem  possible  it  could  be  five  centuries  old, —  considering 
the  mediaeval  ignorance  of  embalming. 

Yet  so  it  was ;  for  this  grisly  relic  was  once  Prince  Ettore 
Visconti,  the  cousin  of  Filippo  Maria,  who  was  distinguished 
from  the  rest  of  that  family  by  his  physical  bravery  and 
prowess  as  a  warrior.  In  the  struggle  for  Gian  Galeazzo's 
principalities  after  the  latter's  death,  Ettore  had  his  foot 
taken  off  during  the  battle  near  Monza  by  one  of  those 
rounded  stone  balls  shot  from  the  primitive  bombards  of  the 
time ;  as  he  was  young  and  strong  this  would  today  have  cost 
him  merely  a  limb,  but  in  their  quattrocento  ignorance  he  was 
permitted  to  bleed  to  death.     The  body  was  found  here  not 

20  Gibbon,  Vol.  Ill,  Chap.  XXXI. 


MONZA  AND  THE  IRON  CROWN         101 

very  long  ago,  amongst  the  remains  of  a  broken  coffin  buried 
in  sand,  which  seems  to  have  acted  as  a  preservative.  Its 
tallness  was  a  characteristic  of  the  Visconti  family, —  as  I 
noticed  again,  a  few  months  later,  in  the  sculptured  image 
of  Gian  Galeazzo  at  the  Certosa. 

I  walked  back  to  my  hotel,  along  the  principal  thorough- 
fare, whose  modern  plastered  buildings,  busy  shops,  hurry- 
ing throngs  and  clanging  tramcars,  produced  more  than  before 
upon  me  the  impression  of  ugliness  and  vulgarity.  Amidst 
all  this,  when  I  had  passed  several  blocks,  there  rose  upon  the 
left,  in  strange  incongruity,  an  old  gothic  church-fagade 
of  the  trecento, —  one  of  those  charming  Lombard  edifices  of 
brick  and  terracotta,  disfigured  by  no  paint  nor  stucco,  which 
so  indefinitely  preserve  their  fresh  appearance.  It  possessed 
the  quaint  cognomen  of  S.  Maria  in  lstrada,  or  St.  Mary  in 
the  Street;  and  its  front,  though  not  large  nor  imposing,  was 
beautiful  as  a  piece  of  Florentine  mosaic, —  the  reddish 
brick  being  daintily  relieved  by  the  mass  of  lighter  cotta 
decoration.  Whosoever  would  build  a  brick  church  today 
would  do  well  to  carefully  study  this  exquisite,  renowned 
design,  a  perfect  specimen  of  its  class. 

In  the  first  story  there  was  but  a  central,  recessed,  gothic 
portal,  its  cotta  mouldings  enclosed  by  a  frame  of  square 
cotta  plaques  with  relieved  designs ;  above  this  opened  a  most 
lovely  and  delicately  formed  rose  window,  with  very  pleas- 
ing double  pointed  windows  at  the  sides,  having  marble 
shafts, —  all  three  surrounded  by  rectangular  frames  of  the 
relieved  plaques.;  in  the  third  story  was  a  central  gothic 
niche  holding  a  statue  of  the  Madonna,  with  a  circular  aper- 
ture at  each  side  open  to  the  sky  behind,  and  recessed  with 
many  mouldings;  these  last  should  open  into  the  nave,  but 
it  is  too  low;  finally  there  came  the  crowning  gothic  frieze 
and  cornice,  also  of  terracotta,  and  the  most  beautiful  fac- 


102  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

tors  of  it  all.  The  interior  is  modernised  and  uninteresting. 
—  From  this  spot  to  the  hotel  it  was  but  another  ten  min- 
utes' walk,  which  was  covered  in  ample  time  for  a  little  rest 
before  dinner. 

The  next  morning,  after  making  due  inquiry,  I  again  took 
a  passing  tramcar  bound  northward,  but  this  time  one  of 
those  which  continue  through  the  central  Piazza  Roma,  and 
some  three-quarters  of  a  mile  beyond,  and  which  are  marked 
by  the  sign  "  Castello  Reale."  The  car  was  a  genuine 
"  double-decker  "  of  the  Parisian  style,  immense  and  heavy, 
the  upper  floor  also  roofed,  and  surmounted  by  the  conti- 
nental hoop-like  trolleys.  Below  were  separate  compart- 
ments for  the  first  and  second  classes ;  and  above,  reached 
by  winding  steps  at  each  end,  was  an  open  extent  of  un- 
cushioned  wooden  seats  for  the  lower  class.  With  this  enor- 
mous carrying  capacity  of  more  than  a  hundred  persons,  all 
seated,  such  cars  must  be  invaluable  for  congested  traffic. 
The  upper  floor,  too,  as  I  that  morning  experienced,  is  de- 
lightful for  travel  through  the  country,  being  open  to  the 
breezes  and  sufficiently  elevated  to  command  wide  views  over 
the  garden-walls;  at  the  same  time,  if  rain  or  violent  wind 
occur,  it  is  quickly  enclosed  by  strong  canvas  curtains. 

At  some  distance  north  from  the  centre  of  the  town  the 
street  became  an  avenue  of  handsome  shade  trees,  lined  by 
good-sized  dwellings  interspersed  with  lawns  and  gardens, — 
the  buildings  themselves  mostly  modern  and  ugly,  but  the 
verdure  of  considerable  charm.  Then  a  structure  of  gigantic 
size  came  into  sight  upon  the  right,  lying  far  from  the 
road,  flashing  in  the  dazzling  sunlight  with  what  seemed 
hundreds  of  windows.  It  was  the  famous  edifice  that  I  had 
come  to  see, —  the  historical  Chateau  Royal  of  Monza.  The 
car  stopped  for  an  instant  before  the  monumental  gate-ways, 


MONZA  AND  THE  IRON  CROWN         103 

of  massive  wrought-iron  wickets  suspended  between  high 
stone  pillars;  and  I  descended. 

Through  the  ironwork  was  visible  a  wide,  imposing  avenue 
of  approach,  its  macadamized  roadway  flanked  by  stretches 
of  turf,  and  these  enclosed  by  two  long  lines  of  ornamental 
white  stone  posts  some  ten  feet  high,  which  carried  fences  of 
slender  iron  pickets ;  behind  these  transparent  railings  on  each 
hand  appeared  various  out-buildings  surrounded  by  lawns, 
flower-beds  and  clumps  of  trees, —  simple,  stuccoed  structures 
with  dark  stone  trimmings ;  and  straight  ahead  at  the  avenue's 
end  rose  the  monster-palace,  as  regular  in  form  as  a  regiment 
of  Prussian  guards.  The  central  pavilion  and  projecting 
wings  were  three  stories  in  height,  the  long  connecting 
bodies,  but  two;  yet  even  those  two,  in  royal  fashion,  had  the 
loftiness  of  half  a  dozen  or  more  modern  floors.  The  ma- 
terial was  clearly  stuccoed  brick,  with  painted  dark  stucco 
trimmings;  the  style  was  Italian  rococo,  but  nevertheless  of  a 
remarkable  quiet  reserve  and  considerable  dignity.  The 
numerous  windows  were  shaded  by  simple  heavy  cornices, 
and  divided  by  painted  pilasters  one  storey  in  height ;  a  prom- 
inent comicione  crowned  each  long  division;  the  entrances 
were  no  longer  than  the  windows,  being  but  two  small  door- 
ways at  the  sides  of  the  central  pavilion,  approached  by 
double  steps.  Not  a  statue  was  in  sight, —  only  a  few  mar- 
ble urns  rising  along  the  roof-balustrade  of  the  pavilion,  and 
a  multitude  of  chimneys  standing  on  the  tiles.  The  wings 
extended  far  toward  the  road,  ending  at  their  inner  corners 
in  two  cubical  pavilions  a  storey  and  a  half  in  height,  dec- 
orated with  many  dark  pilaster  strips  and  flat  gables. 

Over  the  whole  edifice  and  its  grand  approach  hung  an 
air  of  desertedness  and  decay;  weeds  and  grass  had  sprouted 
in  the  neglected  driveway,  in  such  numbers  as  to  darken  the 


io4  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

gravel;  and  the  rusting  iron  gates  betrayed  an  uninterrupted 
closure  of  years.  Yet  it  is  not  an  old  building,  having  been 
erected  about  1780,  for  the  Austrian  Archduke  Ferdinand, 
who  then  governed  Lombardy, —  a  thorough  type  of  those 
vast  palaces  of  the  rococo  era  upon  which  the  sovereigns  of 
Europe  wasted  so  many  millions,  in  poor  imitations  of  Ver- 
sailles. The  location  here  was  prompted  by  the  magnificent 
and  extensive  park  that  stretches  from  this  point  far  to  the 
north  and  east,  one  of  the  most  precious  royal  legacies  from 
the  Sforzas;  the  tops  of  its  giant  trees  were  visible  now  from 
the  gate,  over  the  roofs  of  the  out-buildings  on  the  left.  In 
respect  to  it,  at  least,  the  Austrian  rulers  outshone  the 
French.  The  viceroys  came  regularly  to  enjoy  its  cooling 
shade  during  the  summer  heat,  bringing  all  their  court  with 
them,  and  setting  up  here  a  temporary  and  miniature  capital. 
Archduke  Ferdinand  and  his  wife,  the  spirited  Beatrice 
d'Este,21  sole  heiress  of  the  Duke  of  Modena,  were  especially 
devoted  to  this  imposing  retreat  of  their  own  construction ; 
the  latter  "  held  a  considerable  ascendancy  in  Lombardy,  by 
her  birth,  which  she  ripened  into  a  more  considerable  influ- 
ence, by  the  display  of  all  those  qualities  so  prized  by  the  old 
nobility.  Replete  with  aristocratical  prejudices,  bigoted  in  all 
the  fullest  force  of  the  term,  haughty  and  despotic,"  22  she 
made  this  palace  for  a  good  part  of  the  year  the  centre  of 
all  reaction  against  the  new  tendencies  which  were  bringing 
on  the  downfall  of  feudalism.  The  drama  which  was  de- 
veloped at  Versailles,  in  which  her  sister-in-law  Marie  An- 
toinette took  an  unconscious  part,  was  here  repeated  with  more 
vindictiveness   and   intention.     As   I   gazed   over   the   grass- 

21  Not  to  be  confounded  with  the  earlier  and  more  famous 
Beatrice  d'Este,  the  wife  of  Lodovico  Sforzo,  il  Moro,  of  the  later 
quattrocento. 

22  Lady  Morgan's  "  Italy,"  Vol.  I. 


MONZA  AND  THE  IRON  CROWN         105 

grown  avenue  I  seemed  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  brilliancy 
of  those  days, —  the  court  seemed  alive  again  with  gay-hued, 
silken  cavaliers  and  ladies,  powdered  and  bewigged,  with 
scores  of  gorgeous  servants  hastening  hither  and  thither, 
with  brilliant,  arriving  carriages,  and  painted  sedan  chairs. 

"  Fashion  in  the  —  circle  of  Beatrice  strove  to  imitate 
that  ridicule  which  the  flimsy  but  brilliant  court  of  her 
sister-in-law  —  was  playing  off  against  such  men  as  Neckar, 
Turgot,  etc. —  All  those  whose  personal  interests  were  trod- 
den on  or  whose  prejudices  were  shocked,  (by  the  advance 
of  the  new  ideas)  grouped  round  the  Grand  Duke  and 
Duchess  in  their  retreat  at  Monza."  23  But  it  was  all  in 
vain.  The  revolution  came,  and  triumphed ;  mediaeval  des- 
potism fell  forever;  the  French  Republicans  drove  the  Aus- 
trians  from  Lombardy,  Bonaparte  seized  the  Iron  Crown, 
and  Eugene  Beauharnais  as  his  viceroy  occupied  the  vacated 
palaces.  To  this  splendid  villa  he  brought  his  fair  young 
bride,  Augusta  of  Bavaria,  who  equally  with  himself  enjoyed 
the  admiration  and  devotion  of  the  Milanese;  and  their  resi- 
dence in  this  charming  spot  became  one  of  the  prettiest 
scenes  of  the  new  era. 

Napoleon,  in  one  of  his  letters  written  to  Josephine  dur- 
ing his  visit  to  Lombardy  in  1 807,  mentioned  that  he  had 
been  to  see  Princess  Augusta  at  Monza,  and  found  her  health 
improving.  His  presence  here  then  lends  the  palace  addi- 
tional interest.  The  buildings,  the  gardens,  the  hot-houses, 
the  park,  were  all  so  much  improved  by  the  French,  "  that 
on  the  return  of  the  Austrians  they  found  their  dreary  old 
villa  no  longer  cognizable  as  the  spot  where  Beatrice  was 
wont  to  hold  Tarocco  parties."  23a  Andrea  Appiani,  the  im- 
perial court  painter,  had  decorated  at  Napoleon's  order  the 

23  Lady  Morgan's  "  Italy,"  Vol.  I. 

23a  Idem. 


106  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

rotunda,  the  new  theatre,  and  other  apartments,  with  a 
series  of  striking  frescoes,  which  are  still  the  principal  ob- 
ject of  interest  within.  But  no  visitors  are  admitted,  and  I 
could  not  even  pass  the  gate. 

After  another  half-century  of  Austrian  viceroys,  the  cha- 
teau and  park  passed  to  the  kings  of  United  Italy,  like  the 
other  royal  and  ducal  residences  throughout  the  land.  "  In 
all  the  chief  towns  of  Italy  there  is  a  royal  palace,  and  one 
or  more  villas  in  the  vicinity.  These  residences  of  the  rulers 
of  the  former  various  Italian  states,  have  been,  with  very 
few  exceptions,  maintained  as  royal  residences,  constituting 
by  no  means  a  small  item  in  the  expenses  of  His  Majesty."  2i 
King  Humbert  visited  the  chateau  occasionally,  being  here  on 
the  occasion  when  the  cholera  broke  out  in  Naples,  in  1884, 
—  whereupon  he  promptly  abandoned  his  villeggiatura  and 
hurried  to  work  boldly  amidst  the  contagion.  It  was  here  at 
Monza,  as  all  remember,  that  he  was  later  slain,  by  an  an- 
archist's dagger;  and  since  that  tragedy  the  villa  has  not  once 
been  opened, —  nor  probably  will  be  during  the  present  mon- 
arch's reign.  The  associations  are  too  sad.  In  the  little 
city  a  memorial  chapel  has  been  erected  on  the  spot  where  the 
assassination  occurred,  in  a  street  some  distance  from  the 
centre;  it  was  not  quite  finished  when  I  was  there,  but  was 
dedicated  soon  after.  It  is  a  curious  combination  of  monu- 
ment and  chapel,  and  for  that  reason  well  worth  seeing; 
the  latter  being  contained  in  the  heavy  square  base,  upon 
which  rises  a  lofty  round  shaft,  of  imposing  size  and  grace- 
fulness. 

—  I  walked  on  from  the  palace  gate,  northward  to  the 
public  entrance  to  the  park  a  furlong  beyond.  Here  was  the 
terminus  of  the  tramway.  Through  the  entrance  I  looked 
down  a  beautiful  vista  of  large  trees  running  straightaway 

2*Luigi  Villari's  "Italian  Life  in  Town  and  Country." 


MONZA  AND  THE  IRON  CROWN         107 

east  to  a  far  distance, —  a  fine,  white  highway,  confined  be- 
tween rows  of  luxuriant  maple  and  horsechestnut ;  while  the 
spreading  wood  on  each  hand  was  of  trees  still  taller,  great 
elms  and  beeches  predominating, —  not  set  thickly,  but  with 
open  glades,  and  turf  devoid  of  underbrush.  Advancing,  I 
discovered  through  the  trunks  a  high  iron  picket  fence  upon 
the  right, —  the  boundary  of  the  palace  grounds,  which  in- 
clude also  a  section  of  the  wood,  intersected  by  pleasant 
paths,  with  moss-grown  statues  and  fountains.  There  the 
nobility  were  used  to  stroll,  and  whisper  gallantries,  secure 
from  vulgar  intrusion. 

From  the  main  avenue  occasional  by-roads  parted,  winding 
through  the  luxuriant  foliage,  or  leading  straightaway  be- 
tween twin  regimental  files;  —  grand  "cathedral  aisles" 
were  these,  beneath  the  lofty  elms  and  oaks,  paved  with 
grassy  turf  unspoiled  by  shrubbery;  and  good-sized  meadows 
opened  now  and  again,  whose  glistening  sunlight  emphasized 
the  cooling  shade.  From  these  last  hay  is  yearly  gathered, 
and  down  one  far  vista  on  the  left  I  saw  the  large  barn- 
buildings  where  it  is  stored,  looking  not  unlike  a  pleasant 
forest-villa.  These  splendid  woods  would  afford  the  most 
delightful  rambles  and  picnics  to  northerners  suffocated  by 
Milan's  terrible  summer  heat,  and  longing  for  fresh  air  and 
greenery ;  —  so  easily  reached,  as  they  are,  by  the  electric 
tram  from  the  apse  of  the  Cathedral.  But  that  which  now 
awaited  me,  ahead,  unseen  and  unforeseen,  was  the  wonder 
that  made  the  whole  trip  notable,  and  which  would  crown 
with  joy  a  day's  excursion. 

I  had  advanced  perhaps  half  a  mile  from  the  entrance, 
and  had  already  thought  several  times  of  turning  back,  when 
there  opened  to  the  left  a  field  of  large  size,  running  far 
away  to  the  north  between  clean-cut  lines  of  majestic  ma- 
ples; and  beyond  the  field's  farther  edge,  over  the  treetops, 


108  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

billowing  endless  to  the  north,  there  loomed  into  the  sky  a 
stupendous  chain  of  mountains,  so  vast  and  formidable  that 
their  mighty  crags  seemed  close  at  hand.  Upon  the  nearest 
the  colours  were  green  and  brown, —  meadows  below  and 
bare  crags  above;  but  beyond  these  few,  far  loftier  and  den- 
tated,  extended  a  great  line  of  glittering  snow-peaks,  daz- 
zling-white  from  their  mid-heights  to  the  pointed  summits 
scintillating  against  the  blue, —  peak  after  peak  soaring  still 
more  aerial  as  they  retreated  afar  towards  the  Alpine  heart. 
It  was  a  magnificent  sight, —  the  more  overwhelming  from  its 
sudden  and  unexpected  looming  forth,  the  more  beautiful 
from  its  contrast  with  the  luxuriant  forest  and  level  plain. 

This  was  clearly  the  chain  of  peaks  surrounding  Lake 
Como,  now  quite  near  me  on  the  north.  Doubtless  they 
were  more  snow-clad  than  in  mid-summer;  but  at  any  time 
they  must  be  from  this  point  an  impressive  spectacle.  A 
little  to  left  of  them  the  yet  more  distant  and  higher 
Alps  were  visible,  beyond  the  lakes, —  another  whole  range 
of  dazzling  summits,  seemingly  poised  at  an  indefinite  height. 
Through  the  still,  clear  air  every  crag  and  pinnacle  were 
sharply  outlined;  yet  they  hung  there,  shrouded  in  that  ro- 
mantic effect  of  unreality,  of  unattainable  distance,  which 
renders  so  delightful  these  vistas  from  the  plain,  and  which 
thrills  us  again  from  the  backgrounds  of  the  Old  Masters. — 
Ruskin  spoke  of  it: 

"  In  an  Italian  twilight,  when  60  or  80  miles  away,  the 
ridge  of  the  western  Alps  rises  in  its  dark  and  serrated  blue 
—  there  is  still  unsearchableness,  but  unsearchableness  with- 
out a  cloud  or  concealment, —  an  infinite  unknown,  but  no 
sense  of  any  veil  or  interference  between  us  and  it;  we  are 
separated  from  it,  not  by  any  anger  or  storm,  not  by  any  vain 
and   fading  vapour,  but  by  the  deep  infinity  of  the  thing 


MONZA  AND  THE  IRON  CROWN         109 

itself. —  I  find  that  the  great  religious  painters  rejoiced  in 
that  kind  of  unknowableness,  and  in  that  only."  2o 

Retracing  slowly  my  steps  through  the  forest  ways,  I 
returned  to  the  albergo, —  packed  my  few  effects,  and  took 
the  first  express-train  after  lunch  for  the  south.  Swiftly 
we  sped  across  the  fertile,  monotonous  landscape,  as  level 
as  a  floor,  whose  ceaseless  villages,  farmhouses,  and  smoky 
towns  flitted  by  like  a  dream.  The  factory-chimneys  be- 
came gradually  taller,  and  more  and  more  frequent ;  the 
luxuriant  countryside  disappeared ;  and  we  rolled  through 
a  sea  of  buildings  stretching  to  the  horizon. 

—  An  hour  later  I  was  once  more  walking  the  pavement 
of  the  grand  Piazza  del  Duomo  of  Milan,  traversing  the 
throngs  of  the  splendid  Galleria  Vittorio  Emanuele,  and 
gazing  up  with  swelling  heart  at  the  countless  white  pinna- 
cles of  that  wondrous  fane,  which  atones  for  nearly  all  the 
crimes  of  Gian   Galeazzo  Visconti. 

25  »  Precious  thoughts  from  Ruskin." 


CHAPTER  IV 

SARONNO  AND  VARESE 

"  I  stood  beside  Varese's  Lake, 
Mid  that  redundant  growth 
Of  vines  and  maize  and  bower  and  brake 

Which  Nature,  kind  to  sloth, 
And  scarce  solicited  by  toil, 

Pours  from  the   riches  of  the  teeming  soil." 

Henry  Taylor. 

A  glance  at  the  water-system  of  western  Lombardy  should 
be  first  taken  by  him  who  plans  to  visit  its  points  of  interest ; 
for  it  was  by  those  arteries  of  trade,  and  those  lines  of  de- 
fence, during  hundreds  of  years  before  railroads  were  dreamed 
of,  that  the  cities  of  man  were  built  up  and  aggrandised,  and 
the  boundaries  of  his  states  delimited.  It  is  at  once  observa- 
ble that  this  portion  of  the  plain  consists  mainly  of  one  great 
quadrilateral,  formed  by  the  lakes  on  the  north,  the  Po  on 
the  south,  the  Adda  on  the  east,  emptying  the  waters  of 
Lake  Como,  and  the  Ticino  on  the  west,  emptying  those  of 
Lake  Maggiore.  Both  of  these  last  two  rivers  are  tributaries 
of  the  Po,  flowing  generally  a  little  east  of  south;  and  the 
Ticino  forms  for  more  than  half  its  length  the  western 
boundary  of  the  province  proper. 

At  what  is  practically  the  exact  centre  of  this  quadrilateral 
of  the  Milanese,  stands  its  capital,  the  metropolis  of  the 
plain,  connected  with  all  three  rivers  by  large  navigable 
canals,  which  were  constructed  by  the  mediaeval  rulers,  and 
were  the  cause  of  its  material  supremacy.  For  it  was  by  the 
Po,  its  numerous  tributaries   (which  are  mostly  navigable) 

no 


SARONNO  AND  VA-RESE  in 

and  their  connecting  man-made  channels,  whose  ramifications 
altogether  cover  the  whole  plain  like  a  net-work,  that  prac- 
tically all  commerce  was  transported  during  those  centuries, 
when  land-communications  were  both  difficult  and  danger- 
ous. One  canal  took  Milan's  produce  eastward  to  the  Adda, 
shortly  south  of  Trezzo,  by  which  river  it  reached  the  great 
lake  of  Como  and  its  scores  of  towns;  and  the  visitor  at 
Bellaggio  still  sees  the  blue  water  covered  with  clumsy, 
ancient  barges,  propelled  by  sweeps  and  yellow  sails,  which 
he  does  not  realise  are  the  chief  mediums  of  commerce  with 
the  metropolis.  Another  canal,  the  famous  Naviglio  Grande, 
runs  westward  to  the  Ticino  and  Lago  Maggiore ;  and  a 
third  proceeds  southward  to  Pavia,  and  the  near-by  Po, — 
which  leads  in  turn  to  the  rest  of  the  plain,  and  the  open 
Adriatic  Sea. 

Besides  these  artificial  waterways,  two  smaller  rivers  per- 
colate the  Milanese,  the  Lambro  and  Olona,  flowing  re- 
spectively along  the  eastern  and  western  outskirts  of  the 
metropolis;  both  take  their  rise  in  the  northern  highlands, 
and  find  their  mouths  in  the  Po.  At  Monza  I  had  traversed 
the  upper  valley  of  the  former ;  in  the  upper  valley  of  the  lat- 
ter, northwest  of  Milan,  lie  the  five  other  towns  of  this  north- 
ern district  which  are  worth  a  visit.  That  portion  of  the 
Olona  has  long  been  celebrated  for  its  extraordinary  canyon- 
like formation ;  the  deep  gorge  in  which  it  emerges  from  the 
mountains,  just  to  the  southwest  of  Lake  Lugano,  accom- 
panies the  stream  for  a  score  of  miles  southwards,  gradually 
broadening  till  it  vanishes  in  the  plain.  Near  the  point  of 
that  first  emergence  from  the  hills,  close  by  the  gorge,  sits  the 
prosperous  little  city  of  Varese,  renowned  for  the  delightful 
scenery  of  its  environs;  halfway  from  there  to  Milan,  where 
the  Olona  valley  has  finally  spread  itself  to  the  common 
level,  rises  the  famous  town  of  Legnano,  the  birthplace  of 


ii2  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

Italian  freedom,  where  the  burghers  of  the  plain-towns 
crumpled  up  the  legions  of  Barbarossa. 

Midway  between  Legnano  and  Varese,  deep  in  the  defile 
of  the  Olona  chasm,  lies  a  shrine  of  Italian  art  the  im- 
portance of  which  cannot  be  overestimated, —  the  village  of 
Castiglione  Olona,  the  ancestral  home  of  that  great  family 
which,  besides  numerous  statesmen,  produced  the  renowned 
Baldassare  Castiglione;  its  historic  treasures  are  not  to.  be 
duplicated  in  Lombardy, —  for  there  alone  in  Italy  can  be 
seen  the  marvellous  works  of  Masolino,  the  Florentine,  the 
teacher  of  Masaccio  and  the  whole  quattrocento.  Of  all 
pilgrimages  for  art-students  the  world  can  give,  this  is  one 
of  the  few  most  significant  and  thrilling. —  Finally,  to  the 
east  and  west  of  Legnano,  respectively,  on  the  borders  of  the 
Olona  valley,  sit  the  two  remaining  towns  that  demand  a 
visit, —  Saronno  and  Busto  Arsizio.  The  former  of  these 
is  another  artistic  shrine  of  importance,  being  the  home  of 
that  wonderful  series  of  frescoes  which  are  the  masterpieces 
of  Bernardino  Luini,  and  Gaudenzio  Ferrari. 

Two  railroads  traverse  this  district,  starting  respectively 
from  the  "  Central  "  and  the  "  Nord  "  stations  of  Milan, — 
which  the  traveller  must  notice  carefully  if  he  would  not 
lose  his  train  by  going  to  the  wrong  depot.  That  from  the 
Central  station  follows  the  Olona  to  Legnano,  where  it  di- 
verges westward  to  Busto  Arsizio  and  Lago  Maggiore;  a 
continuation  of  this,  up  the  gorge  to  Castiglione,  from  Leg- 
nano, is  alleged  to  be  in  process  of  construction,  but  doubt- 
less will  not  be  finished  for  years  to  come.  The  other  line 
leads  directly  via  Saronno  to  Varese,  passing,  midway  be- 
tween the  two,  the  present  nearest  railway  station  to  Cas- 
tiglione,—  Venegono  Superiore;  whence  the  pilgrim  to  the 
shrine  of  Masolino  must  continue  a  couple  of  miles  west- 
ward, into  the  gorge,  by  foot  or  carriage. 


SARONNO  AND  VARESE  113 

It  was  the  latter  railway  that  I  first  followed,  on  a  beauti- 
ful May  morning  when  the  plain  shone  resplendent  in  its  re- 
juvenescence under  the  sun's  warming  golden  rays.  It  was 
a  relief  to  depart  from  the  great  modern  city ;  it  was  a  delight 
to  leave  behind  its  smoky,  modern  suburbs,  with  their  forest 
of  chimneys,  and  enter  once  more  upon  this  luxuriant,  glow- 
ing countryside,  where  every  tree-lined  highway  seemed  beck- 
oning on  to  rural  beauties.  Here,  at  least,  was  still  the 
Lombardy  of  old.  Here  were  the  endless  fields  of  incom- 
parable richness,  for  which  the  nations  had  fought  so  long, 
still  tilled  with  that  minute  care  which  has  been  recently  la- 
belled "  intensive  agriculture."  Here  was  the  wealth  that 
aggrandised  the  early  Milan,  raised  the  Visconti  to  their 
pinnacle  of  power,  and  enabled  the  country  so  miraculously 
to  recuperate,  times  without  number,  from  the  devastation 
of  war.  As  early  as  the  13th  century,  says  Sismondi,  "  men 
who  meditated,  and  who  applied  to  the  arts  the  fruits  of  their 
study,  practised  already  that  scientific  agriculture  of  Lom- 
bardy and  Tuscany  which  became  a  model  to  other  nations; 
and  at  this  day,  after  five  centuries,  the  districts  formerly 
free,  and  always  cultivated  with  intelligence,  are  easily  dis- 
tinguished from  those  half-wild  districts  which  had  remained 
subject  to  the  feudal  lords."  1 

Here  the  distinguishing  characteristics  were  not  only  the 
riches  of  the  soil, —  the  countless  wheat-fields  that  now  bil- 
lowed away  on  each  side  to  the  horizon,  freshly  green,  and 
the  endless  rows  of  mulberries,  putting  forth  their  new 
crops  of  leaves  for  the  silkworms, —  but  also  the  land's  re- 
markable subdivision  into  small  holdings,  each  with  its  com- 
fortable dwelling  and  farm-buildings,  and  the  entire  ab- 
sence of  those  waste  spaces  known  as  noblemen's  parks  or 
villa-grounds.     It  was  always  so  in  this  region;  Mrs.  Piozzi 

1  Sismondi's  "  History  of  the   Italian  Republics." 


ii4  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

noticed  it  in  the  18th  century:  "A  nobleman's  park  is  an- 
other object  never  to  be  seen  or  expected  in  a  country  where 
people  would  really  be  deserving  much  blame  did  they  retain 
in  their  hands  for  mere  amusement  ten  or  twelve  miles' 
circuit  of  earth,  capable  to  produce  two  or  three  thousand 
pounds  a  year  profit  to  their  families,  besides  making  many 
tenants  rich  and  happy  in  the  meantime.  I  will  confess, 
however,  that  the  absence  of  all  these  agremens  gives  a  flat- 
ness and  uniformity  to  the  views  which  one  cannot  complain 
of  in  England ;  but  when  Italians  consider  the  cause,  they 
will  have  reason  to  be  satisfied  with  the  effect,  especially 
wThile  vegetable  nature  flourishes  in  full  perfection,  while 
every  step  crushes  out  perfume  from  the  trodden  herbs,  and 
those  in  the  hedges  disperse  with  delightful  liberality  a  fra- 
grance that  enchants  one.  Hops  and  pyracanthus  cover  the 
sides  of  every  cottage,  and  the  scent  of  truffles  attracts,  and 
the  odour  of  melons  gratifies  one's  nerves,  when  driving 
among  the  habitations  of  fertile  Lombardy."  2 

How  extraordinary  the  difference  of  this  countryside  from 
the  regions  of  central  and  southern  Italy,  where  the  traveller 
from  his  train-window  watches  districts  pass  by,  hour  after 
hour,  without  a  habitation  outside  the  ancient  walled  bor- 
oughs on  their  hilltops.  But  Milan,  Venice  and  Florence,  as 
I  have  stated  elsewhere,  were  the  only  states  of  the 
Middle  Ages  and  the  Renaissance  that  bestowed  sufficient 
protection  on  their  territories  to  permit  a  peaceful  occupation 
of  the  soil. 

There  was  another  characteristic  noted  by  Mrs.  Piozzi 
that  remains  the  same  today, —  the  further  monotony  of 
Lombard  landscape  caused  by  the  entire  absence  from  it  of 

2  Mrs.  Piozzi's  "  Glimpses  of  Italian  Society  in  the  18th  Century." 
It  must  be  remembered  that  these,  and  especially  her  following  re- 
marks, refer  only  to  this  district  of  Italy. 


SARONNO  AND  VARESE  115 

animal  life  in  the  fields:  "  Nothing  is  so  little  animated  by 
the  sight  of  living  creatures  as  an  Italian  prospect.  No 
sheep  upon  their  hills,  no  cattle  grazing  in  their  meadows, 
no  waterfowl,  swans,  ducks,  etc.,  upon  their  lakes. —  These, 
however,  are  only  consequences  of  luxuriant  plenty,  for  where 
the  farmer  makes  four  harvests  of  his  grass,  and  every  other 
speck  of  ground  is  profitably  covered  with  grain,  vines,  etc., 
all  possibility  of  open  pasturage  is  precluded.  Horses,  too, 
so  ornamental  in  an  English  landscape,  will  never  be  seen 
loose  in  an  Italian  one,  as  they  are  all  chevaux  entiers,  and 
cannot  be  trusted  in  troops  together  as  ours  can,  even  if  there 
was  ground  unenclosed  for  them  to  graze  on." 

Of  birds,  in  Mrs.  Piozzi's  time,  there  were  still  plenty 
upon  the  plain ;  but  nowadays,  alas,  the  unending  destruction 
waged  upon  them  by  Italians  has  left  very  few  alive.  Guns, 
nets,  and  the  cruel  roccoli  dispose  each  year  of  the  small 
numbers  that  enter  from  abroad ;  for  the  whole  nation  are 
the  most  enthusiastic  bird-sportsmen  upon  the  face  of  the 
earth,  and  their  enthusiasm  seems  to  increase  with  the  dis- 
appearance of  the  game.  There  are  now  practically  no  game 
birds  in  the  land,  and  no  private  preserves;  but  they  hunt 
down  tiny  songsters,  and  consume  their  diminutive  bodies, 
with  a  zest  that  other  peoples  cannot  understand.  Hunts- 
men are  never-failing  objects  in  the  Lombard  landscape;  one 
cannot  take  a  rural  stroll  anywhere  in  north  Italy  (outside 
of  Piedmont)  without  incurring  the  danger  of  their  wild 
shooting;  they  wander  around  the  towns,  generally  without 
dogs,  well  content  to  obtain  the  shattered  carcass  of  one 
little   finch   as   the   result   of  a  day's   tramping. 

The  church  also  joins  regularly  in  the  foolish  slaughter. 
The  report  of  a  firearm  close  beside  the  train,  on  that  May 
morning,  drew  me  to  the  opposite  window ;  —  where  I  ar- 
rived in  time  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  a  village  parroco,  in  his 


n6  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

long,  threadbare  cassock  and  black  skull  cap,  with  the  tra- 
ditional spectacles  upon  his  forehead,  clasping  a  smoking 
shot-gun  and  peering  eagerly  through  the  bushes.  The  flock 
follows  where  the  padre  leads;  and  every  Lombard  Taras- 
conian  community  has  its  aggregation  of  devoted,  cap-hunting 
Tartarins.  But  the  roccolo,  I  believe,  is  more  destructive 
than  the  gun;  everywhere  through  northern  Italy  one  finds 
them, —  those  death-dealing  traps,  composed  of  circles  of 
evergreen  trees  and  shrubbery,  covered  by  netting,  furnished 
with  decoy  songsters  for  the  lure.  It  is  they,  never  ceasing 
to  work,  that  provide  Italian  tables  with  their  miserable 
beccafichi.  So  Italians  have  sown,  and  now  they  are  reaping, 
— not  the  full  crops  that  once  graced  the  land,  but  crops 
dwindling  steadily,  year  by  year,  through  the  unchecked 
operation  of  insect  scourges;  the  vines  especially  are  fast  dis- 
appearing. 

Baretti  admitted  this  idiosyncrasy  of  his  fellow-country- 
men a  century  and  a  half  ago :  "  Several  of  our  sovereigns 
have  their  hunting-fetes,  and  follow  sometimes  the  violent 
exercise  of  pursuing  the  stag  and  the  wild  boar,  and  even  the 
wolf."  Especially  true  of  the  Piedmontese ;  Victor  Emman- 
uel II  and  Umberto  I,  in  our  day,  often  hunted  the  wild  goats 
and  chamoix  of  the  Gran  Paradiso  range. — "  But  this  is  no 
part  of  our  national  character,  and  in  general  we  do  not 
love  such  dangerous,  exercises.  We  are  fonder  of  fowling, 
and  laying  snares  for  the  feathered  birds;  and  as  to  the  art 
of  catching  birds,  there  is  perhaps  no  nation  in  Europe  so 
dexterous  as  the  Italians."  3 

Nearly  an  hour  had  been  passed  in  the  fifteen-mile  run, 
when  the  train  pulled  into  the  station  of  Saronno.  This 
consisted  of  two  long  uncovered  platforms,  with  many  inter- 
vening tracks;  for  the  place  is  quite  a  railroad  junction, — 

3  Baretti's  "  Manners  and  Customs  of  Italy,"  Vol.  II, 


SARONNO  AND  VARESE  117 

one  branch  line  diverging  northward  here  to  Como,  while 
another  crosses  at  right  angles,  running  east  and  west  beside 
the  old  highway  from  Busto  Arsizio  to  Seregno  and  Usmate. 
The  town  of  10,000  inhabitants  lies  scattered  along  that  high- 
way, for  over  a  mile,  mostly  to  eastward  of  the  station. 
Its  only  notorious  product  was  recalled  to  my  mind,  as  I 
descended  from  the  carriage,  by  the  shrill  cries  of  a  couple  of 
youthful  venders,  promenading  the  platform  with  large  bas- 
kets.— "  Amaretti!  Amaretti!" — rose  the  repeated  call,  un- 
interrupted by  the  passengers  who  bought  eagerly  from  the 
train  windows.  The  goods  were  gingerbread  cakes,  of  a 
peculiar  make  and  flavour  much  esteemed  by  the  Lombards, 
and  for  which  Saronno  has  a  wide  renown. 

On  issuing  forth,  after  leaving  my  luggage  in  deposit,  I 
found  the  old  highway  crossing  the  tracks  immediately  north 
of  the  station,  whence  it  continued  eastward  between  crowded, 
stained,  stucco  buildings  of  indefinite  age, —  the  one  thor- 
oughfare of  the  town ;  westward  it  was  a  handsome  avenue 
of  plane-trees,  four  rows  in  width,  the  beauty  of  whose 
fresh  foliage  was,  however,  marred  by  their  being  truncated 
at  a  two-thirds  height,  in  the  common  Italian  fashion.  The 
buildings  scattered  beside  the  avenue,  too,  were  dilapidated 
with  age  and  neglect,  looking  like  decayed  warehouses  or 
factories,  that  had  been  given  over  to  the  habitation  of  the 
poor.  Slatternly  women  and  dirty  children  hung  and 
screamed  from  the  windows,  as  I  passed  by;  I  was  making 
for  Saronno's  famous  santuario,  a  third  of  a  mile  to  the  west. 

It  was  the  friars  who  planted  these  stately  trees,  long  ago, 
constructing  an  impressive  approach  from  the  ugly  town  to 
the  shrine  that  brought  it  celebrity  and  custom.  Saronno 
in  itself  is  not,  and  never  has  been,  of  any  special  worth 
or  interest ;  the  fame  has  been  that  of  this  pilgrimage  church, 
the  Santuario  della  Beata  Virgine,  or  S.  Maria  del  Miracoli, 


n8  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

which,  after  being  for  five  centuries  the  object  of  a  peculiar 
reverence  and  belief  by  the  people  of  the  whole  district,  has 
now  acquired  a  far  greater  sanctity  in  the  world  of  art.  And 
this  is  because  the  monks  of  the  early  cinquecento,  following 
the  fashion  of  their  period  and  building  more  wisely  than 
they  knew,  used  some  of  the  superfluous  riches  deposited 
by  credulous  pilgrims  in  engaging  the  magic  brushes  of 
Luini  and  Gaudenzio  Ferrari.  The  authorities  wished  a 
pompous  decoration  of  the  presbytery,  dome  and  choir  of 
their  newly  erected  church, —  which  "  had  been  commenced 
in  1498  from  the  designs  of  Vincenzo  dell'  Orto,"  4 —  and  the 
result  was  a  great  series  of  masterpieces  of  painting,  not  to 
be  surpassed  in  all  Lombardy. 

Luini  was  the  first  engaged,  in  1523.  Born  at  Luino 
on  Lago  Maggiore  about  1475,  he  was  now  therefore  at  the 
supreme  height  of  his  transcendental  powers.  Foppa,  Bor- 
gognone  and  Bramantino,  whose  processes  he  had  followed 
in  his  3'outhful  period,  had  left  upon  his  genius  the  imprint 
of  their  vigorous  characteristics ;  and  even  the  overwhelming 
influence  of  Leonardo,  which  had  captured  him  on  arriving 
at  maturer  years,  and  moulded  his  work  into  lasting  lines  of 
divine  beauty,  had  become  "  chastened,  spiritualised,  per- 
meated with  Luini's  deep  religious  fervour;  and  there  were 
side  by  side  with  it  the  growth  of  the  artist's  own  ideas  and 
the  ability  to  represent  them."  5  He  had  ceased  painting 
those  figures  so  exactly  like  Leonardo's,  with  the  same 
enigmatic  smile  on  their  exquisite  lips,  which  afterwards 
caused  them  to  be  everywhere  assigned  to  the  great  master 
himself,  and  left  the  disciple's  fame  obscured  till  the  redis- 
coveries of  recent  days;  he  had  developed  at  last  his  own 
personality,  had  reached  that  ultimate  period  which  placed 

4  G.   C.  Williamson's  "  Bernardino  Luini." 

5  Idem. 


SARONNO  AND  VARESE  119 

him  in  the  first  rank  of  the  Renaissance.  Such  was  Luini's 
state  when  called  to  Saronno;  and  the  consequence  was  that 
the  supreme  fire  of  his  genius  blazed  forth  upon  the  walls 
of  this  pilgrimage  church,  stamping  them  with  a  series  of 
stupendous  frescoes  that  are  radiant  with  his  individuality. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  attach  any  importance  to  the  story 
that  Luini  fled  from  Milan  on  account  of  either  crime  or 
political  intrigue,  and  took  refuge  at  Saronno,  and  while  there 
was  forced  by  the  monks  to  paint  the  frescoes  in  return  for 
the  sanctuary  and  hospitality  that  they  afforded  him.  This 
story,  which  is  still  sometimes  repeated  at  the  church,  is 
quite  refuted  by  the  records  that  remain,  stating  the  emolu- 
ment which  the  artist  received  for  the  work,  and  also  by 
the  freedom  and  entire  want  of  restraint  shown  in  the 
whole  series  of  frescoes.6 

Lanini,  Abbiate,  and  Cesare  del  Magno  were  also  em- 
ployed by  the  friars,  on  a  much  lesser  scale;  and  finally,  in 
1534,  they  engaged  Gaudenzio  Ferrari  to  paint  the  cupola 
of  the  presbytery,  which  remained  unadorned.  Curiously 
enough,  this  second  great  Lombard  genius  was  also  just  at 
the  summit  of  his  powers,  and  likewise  left  at  Saronno  his 
masterpiece.  Born  but  a  little  later  than  Luini,  about  1481, 
he  had  yet  been  an  early  disciple  of  the  latter,  who  "  seems 
to  have  used  his  influence  at  this  time  in  directing  his  young 
pupil's  attention  chiefly  to  the  works  of  Borgognone  and 
Bramantino."  T  The  inevitable  later  influence  entered  into 
Ferrari's  life  with  his  discovery  of  the  works  of  Correggio, 
which  profoundly  affected  his  whole  manner  of  composition ; 
and  it  is  probably  from  Correggio's  Gloria  at  Parma  that 
he  conceived  the  design  for  his  dome  at  Saronno.  He  re- 
tained, however,  and  even  emphasised,  his  individuality  of 

0  Vide  G.   C.  Williamson's  "  Bernardino  Luini." 
7  Ethel   Halsey's  "  Gaudenzio  Ferrari." 


120  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

colouring,  which  no  one  who  has  once  seen  can  ever  forget, 

—  that  "  usual  gay  but  harmonious  scheme  of yellows, 

browns,  greens,  mulberry  reds,  greys  and  whites,  with  blues 
sparsely  introduced."  No  one  can  dispute  his  title  to  being 
at  once  the  greatest,  most  peculiar,  and  most  enchanting  col- 
ourist  of  the  Lombard  school. 

Another  personal  trait  which  Gaudenzio  had  now  fully 
developed,  and  which  was  a  reflex  of  his  character,  was  the 
intense  joyousness  and  activity  of  his  holy  figures, —  a  vivid, 
sprightly  joy  that  was  at  once  earthly  and  celestial.  Correg- 
gio's  influence  lived  in  his  methods  of  composition ;  Luini's, 
in  the  Leonardesque  heads  with  their  beautiful  faces  and 
curling,  golden  hair,  which  are  sometimes  indistinguishable 
from  that  master's  own.  Strangely  like  Luini's  also  was  the 
fate  of  Ferrari's  work,  which  underwent  a  similar  obscurity 
for  centuries  till  rescued  by  modern  research ;  but  the  cause 
was  different,  lying  in  the  fact  that  practically  "  all  his  mas- 
terpieces are  in  the  smaller  towns  and  villages  of  Lombardy, 
off  the  beaten  track,  and  are  therefore  unknown  to  the 
general  public."  Now,  however,  discerning  criticism  has 
repaid  neglect  wTith  interest,  by  labelling  him  "  undoubtedly 
the  most  powerful  and  original  artist  that  the  school  pro- 
duced,—  the  Michael  Angelo  of  the  Lombard  school,  as 
Luini  has  been  termed  the  Raphael."  8 

My  first  glimpse  of  the  church  was  the  appearance  of  its 
striking  dome  and  lofty  tower,  looming  above  the  trees  as 
I  approached  the  end  of  the  avenue.  The  campanile  rose  in 
Ave  brick  stages  with  light  limestone  trimmings,  to  a  lime- 
stone belfry  with  double  rounded  arches,  topped  by  a  balus- 
trade and  an  octagonal  lantern ;  the  dome  was  indeed  re- 
markable, consisting  of  a  tall  twelve-sided  drum,  capped  by  a 
slim  lantern,  and  surrounded  by  a  limestone  arcade  of  ex- 

8  Ethel   Halsey's  "  Gaudenzio  Ferrari." 


SARONNO  AND  VARESE  121 

quisite  proportions  and  decoration;  each  face  contained  two 
double  arches,  with  medallions  in  their  lunette,  upon  slender 
columns  and  pedestals  underrun  by  a  graceful  balustrade; 
while  over  columns  and  pedestals  alike  were  draped  dainty 
stone  festoons  and  arabesques. 

The  latter  were  not  discernible  till  I  had  arrived  at  the 
building's  foot, —  emerging  from  the  final  trees  of  the  avenue 
to  find  myself  beside  the  rectangular  choir  projecting  east- 
ward; for  the  church  faced  away  from  Saronno,  with  its 
flank  upon  the  north  side  of  its  piazza.  So,  as  I  advanced 
into  the  open,  a  clear  view  was  afforded  me  of  both  dome 
and  tower, —  the  latter  rising  in  the  farther  angle  between 
the  choir  and  left  transept.  The  straight  side-wall  of  the 
building  was  simple  but  effective,  being  of  plain  stucco  pierced 
by  corniced  renaissance  windows,  separated  by  doric  pilasters ; 
it  was  of  one  story  only,  with  tiled  roof  sloping  upward  to  the 
side  of  the  loftier  nave.  Opposite,  on  the  left  hand  of  the 
piazza,  stretched  a  pretty  row  of  young  shade-trees,  backed 
by  a  fine  old  walled  garden,  belonging  to  some  villa;  this 
was  surmounted  by  picturesque  clumps  of  tall  evergreens, 
in  whose  shady  nooks  several  birds  were  sweetly  singing. 

On  rounding  the  fagade  of  the  edifice,  it  betrayed  a  later 
erection  than  the  tasteful  rear  part,  being  of  the  rococo 
period,  of  stucco  with  two  tiers  of  granite  columns, —  four 
couples  in  each  tier  —  and  a  great  mass  of  unpleasing  orna- 
mentation. Over  the  central  doorway  was  a  gabled  porch 
upheld  by  two  huge  Atlantes,  with  poor  statues  in  niches 
at  its  sides;  over  the  side  doorways  were  broken  cornices 
and  rectangular  reliefs;  a  triple  window  adorned  the  center 
of  the  upper  storey,  flanked  by  two  other  statues  in  elaborate 
niches;  and  the  balustraded  cornice  was  crowned  by  five 
more  marble  divinities,  of  baroque  wildness, —  four  of  them 
angels  blowing  very  long  trumpets,   the  fifth  a  Madonna 


122  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

armed  with  a  lightning-rod.  Immediately  to  left  here,  along 
the  piazza's  northern  side,  stretched  a  portion  of  the  adjacent 
monastery  buildings;  that  visible  was  a  two-storied,  stucco 
edifice,  colonnaded  below,  having  a  handsome  plaster  door- 
way at  the  left  end;  over  the  latter,  from  the  peak  of  the 
pent  roof,  rose  a  slim  campanile  of  three  divisions,  to  a 
single-arched  belfry  with  byzantine  cupola.  All  was  un- 
changed from  the  days  when  Luini  passed  in  and  out. 

Entering  the  church,  I  found  myself  in  a  low,  round- 
arched  nave,  with  a  most  sumptuous  stucco  ceiling  of  baroque 
design,  painted  in  vivid  blues  and  greens  about  its  glazed, 
white  figures;  each  bay  contained  four  large  angels  of  gilded 
hair  and  wings,  inclining  their  heads  toward  a  central  octa- 
gon, which  was  deeply  recessed  with  shell-work,  and  filled 
with  crude  pictures.  At  each  side  of  the  nave  were  five  round 
arches,  rising  from  pilasters  upon  the  sides  of  the  heavy 
white  piers,  which  separated  off  the  low  aisles  with  their 
elaborately  painted  ceilings;  they  had  no  chapels,  nor  even 
altars.  The  pilasters  bore  gilded  Corinthian  caps;  the  span- 
drels of  the  arches  were  occupied  by  lifesize  moulded  figures 
in  white  Roman  robes;  and  above  them  ran  open  galleries, 
adorned  with  large  grey  angels  standing  before  the  pillars, 
and  crowned  upon  the  arches  by  gambolling  white  putti. 
All  was  typical  of  the  over-ripe  baroque. 

It  was  only  on  advancing  to  the  presbytery,  which  occupied 
the  place  of  a  transept,  that  the  true  beauties  of  the  place 
unfolded;  here,  under  the  soft  white  light  raining  down 
from  the  lofty  dome,  glistened  gloriously  from  each  side  the 
beautiful  tones  of  the  old  masters,  in  scores  of  holy  per- 
sonages that  looked  forth  from  every  wall-space,  and  mounted 
afar,  story  upon  story,  to  the  tremendous  climax  of  Fer- 
rari's heavenly  choir.  Straight  ahead  was  a  curious  low 
archway,   leading  to   the  choir,   and   topped  by  the  organ; 


SARONNO  AND  VARESE  123 

similar  archways  to  right  and  left  formed  deep  altar-re- 
cesses, guarded  by  strange  iron  railings  composed  of  instru- 
ments of  the  Passion,  with  black  marble  posts  whose  carved 
white  caps  represented  plates  of  fruit,  a  lamb,  a  communion- 
pitcher,  cups,  masks,  etc. ;  the  fourth  similar  archway  formed 
the  entrance  from  the  nave.  Beside  each  aperture  stood 
two  pairs  of  large  pilasters,  with  faces  of  white  arabesques 
upon  golden  ground,  each  pair  enclosing  the  heroic  painted 
figure  of  a  saint;  two  of  these  figures  were  certainly  by  Luini, 
—  the  St.  Roch  with  a  charming  angel,  second  to  right,  and 
the  St.  Sebastian,  second  to  left, —  while  some  critics  also 
credit  him  with  the  St.  Anthony  and  St.  Christopher.  The 
others  were  done  by  Cesare  del  Magno.  To  the  left  of 
the  entrance-arch  there  projected  a  beautiful  oak  pulpit,  ex- 
quisitely carved  with  a  profusion  of  cherubs,  festoons,  angel- 
heads,  etc.  A  delightful  frieze  of  painted  putti  extended 
roundabout  the  ground  story,  which,  though  sometimes  al- 
leged to  be  the  work  of  Lanini,  indubitably  betrays  Luini's 
superior  talent. 

Lanini's  productions  appear  in  the  second  story,  in  the 
six  frescoed  panels  of  saints,  single  or  grouped,  flanking  the 
arched  recesses  at  the  presbytery's  rear  and  sides;  these  are 
not  remarkable,  and  the  eye  passes  over  them  to  the  corner 
spandrels,  curving  forward  a  little  higher,  which  were  for- 
merly radiant  with  four  large  striking  medallions,  repre- 
senting the  scenes  of  the  Fall  of  Man.  Two  of  them  are 
unfortunately  ruined  by  the  damp;  but  the  remaining  two 
—  the  Eating  of  the  Apple,  and  the  Expulsion  —  are  so 
effective  in  composition  and  treatment  of  the  nude,  that  their 
drawing  must  have  been  done  by  Lanini's  master,  Ferrari; 
and  documents  recently  discovered  in  the  monastery  archives 
prove  that  these  tondi  were  executed  by  Gaudenzio  and 
his  pupils.     Above  them  rises  the  tall  drum,   twelve-sided 


124  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

like  the  exterior,  presenting  an  extraordinary  sight;  for  it 
is  entirely  surrounded  by  huge  painted  wooden  statues  of 
saints,  projecting  from  niches, —  twenty-three  in  all,  a  great 
concourse  of  uncouth,  gesticulating  figures. 

But  the  eye  still  passes  on,  to  forget  them  instantly,  as 
it  becomes  lost  in  the  vast  and  wonderful  paradise  glittering 
from  the  dome  with  a  thousand  lustrous  colours,  agitated 
with  the  movement  of  numberless  angels  more  beautiful 
than  can  be  conceived.  Row  upon  row  they  extend  upward 
to  the  vault  of  heaven,  not  ordered  like  a  trecento  gloria, 
but  all  in  ceaseless  activity, —  playing  with  glowing  eyes 
and  cheeks  on  every  kind  of  musical  instrument,  singing  with 
rapturous  lips  and  streaming  hair,  radiant  with  that  loveli- 
ness of  form  and  colour  which  only  Gaudenzio  Ferrari 
could  produce.  Ah !  how  graceful  are  those  winged  girlish 
figures,  exquisitely  rounded,  swathed  in  gleaming,  glossy- 
hued  draperies  that  cling  and  float  in  such  realistic  folds,  yet 
shower  their  countless  vivid  tints  like  a  score  of  circling 
rainbows;  how  ethereally  beautiful  are  all  those  Luinesque 
heads,  with  their  long  curling  locks  of  shining  gold  and 
their  blissful,  expressive  faces;  how  thrillingly  absorbed  are 
one  and  all  in  their  heavenly  music,  which  every  fervid  eye 
reveals  to  be  a  tremendous  paean  of  praise  to  the  Almighty! 
This  is  assured  by  the  topmost  row,  still  higher  in  the  sky, 
which  consists  of  the  chorus  of  baby-angels,  fluttering  pink 
and  white  around  the  apex  of  paradise,  their  eyes  united 
upon  that  central  Throne,  where  appears  the  majestic  figure 
of  the  Eternal.  And  as  one  gazes,  marvelling,  the  celestial 
chanting  seems  to  echo  in  his  ears,  ever  louder  and  more 
sublime,  resounding  with  melodies  never  dreamed  of  upon 
earth, —  until  he  feels  himself  being  lifted  to  that  glittering 
empyrean,    surrounded    by    its    immortal    songsters !  —  Well 


SARONNO  AND  VARESE  125 

may  one  so  wonder  and  dream, —  for  there  is  nothing  else 
just  like  this  in  all  the  world. 

We  cannot  be  too  thankful  that  it  has  been  so  splendidly 
preserved,  in  all  its  plenitude  of  grace  and  vivid  hue,—  this 
work  upon  which  Gaudenzio  poured  out,  as  nowhere  else, 
the  treasures  of  his  blitheful,  beauty-loving  soul.  "  The 
supreme  quality  of  this  great  work  is  the  extraordinary  life 
that  pervades  it.  As  one  stands  below  and  looks  up  at  this 
busy  throng,  animated  with  a  holy  joy,  one  can  but  marvel 
at  the  astonishing  vitality  and  movement."  9  "  Though  the 
motion  of  music  runs  through  the  whole  multitude  like  a 
breeze,  though  the  joy  expressed  is  a  real  tripudio  celeste, 
not  one  of  all  these  angels  flings  his  arms  abroad  or  makes 
a  movement  that  disturbs  the  rhythm.  We  feel  that  they 
are  keeping  time  —  each  in  his  appointed  seat,  as  though 
the  sphere  were  circling  with  them  round  the  throne  of 
God,  who  is  their  centre  and  their  source  of  gladness."  10 
It  is  related  that  even  the  stolid,  avaricious  monks,  who  had 
contracted  to  give  Ferrari  200  golden  scudi,  besides  the 
lodging  and  wine  for  himself  and  his  assistants  and  the  cost 
of  the  scaffolding  and  plaster,  were  so  impressed  by  the 
result  of  the  year's  work  that  they  voluntarily  increased  the 
emolument  to  250  scudi. 

Before  leaving  the  presbytery  I  looked  at  the  altar  palas 
at  the  sides,  finding  them  well  worth  a  moment's  inspection 
in  spite  of  their  modernity;  for  one  was  a  very  charming 
relief  of  the  Pieta,  of  lifesize,  in  a  classic  frame  of  coloured 
marbles,  flanked  by  frescoed  scenes  from  the  Passion;  and 
the  other  was  a  most  extraordinary  representation  of  the 
Last  Supper,  by  lifesize,  realistic  figures  of  painted  plaster, 

9  Ethel   Halsey's   "  Gaudenzio  Ferrari." 

10 J.  A.  Symonds'  "Sketches  and  Studies  in  Italy." 


126  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

seated  around  three  sides  of  a  table, —  the  whole  very  effect- 
ive from  its  startling  vraisemblance.  Then  I  entered  the 
rear  archway,  that  forms  a  long  vestibule  to  the  retired 
choir,  only  to  stop  after  a  few  steps  with  a  sense  of  keen 
delight;  for  here,  upon  the  sides,  extended  the  first  of 
Luini's  great  tableaux, —  the  Marriage  of  the  Virgin,  and 
Christ  amongst  the  Doctors.  Nearly  15  feet  long,  by  10 
feet  high,  they  covered  practically  the  whole  of  the  two 
wall-spaces,   above  the  lateral  choir-benches. 

If  Ferrari's  figures  had  been  idealistic  and  beautiful,  if  his 
colours  had  been  thrilling  and  his  composition  eloquent, — 
what  words  then  remain  to  depict  these  greater  beauties  of 
a  still  superior  genius, —  to  give  any  idea  of  these  still  more 
wonderful  scenes,  animated  by  human  forms  at  once  so  per- 
fectly lifelike  and  so  lovely.  He  who  has  seen  Luini's 
productions  only  at  Milan  and  elsewhere,  can  form  no  idea 
of  the  supreme  development  of  that  genius  here  manifested. 
There  are  a  dignity,  a  repose,  a  majesty  of  form  and  move- 
ment upon  the  splendid  figures,  that  join  with  their  Leon- 
ardesque  beauty  and  the  realism  of  their  settings  to  make 
them  shine  with  almost  godlike  power.  They  are  concep- 
tions of  ideal  humanity,  that  are  yet  strongly  individualised, 
and  full  of  force  and  purpose;  they  are  perfectly  propor- 
tioned and  moulded,  posed  in  attitudes  at  once  graceful  and 
dramatic,  while  still  replete  with  dignity;  and  are  arranged 
in  compositions  that  exhibit  the  selfsame  attributes.  If  there 
be  one  fault,  it  is  that  of  too  much  posing. 

In  the  Marriage  scene  the  parties  are  gathered  in  a 
stately  chamber,  panelled  and  floored  with  precious  marbles, 
the  priest  and  contracting  couple  standing  to  the  front,  with 
the  bridesmaids  upon  the  right  and  the  young  men  breaking 
their  sticks  upon  the  left;  the  Virgin  and  these  youthful 
friends  are  all  equally  beautiful,  the  males  even  surpassing 


SARONNO  AND  VARESE  127 

the  others  in  their  superb  modelling  and  grace;  in  their 
robust  lines  and  powerful  necks  there  is  a  curious  resemblance 
to  Mantegna's  work,  but  here  the  stalwartness  is  superim- 
posed by  the  charming  Luincsque  heads,  with  their  rippling 
golden  hair  and  regular  features.  The  high-priest  is  quietly 
costumed  and  naturally  portrayed, —  not  burdened  with  the 
customary  excessive  hoariness;  St.  Joseph,  likewise,  is  no 
tottering  greybeard,  but  a  handsome  man  in  the  prime  of 
life,  who  places  the  ring  upon  the  finger  of  his  bride  with 
a  movement  at  once  stately  and  unpretending ;  and  the  friends 
who  fill  the  background  complete  the  fairness  of  the  tableau 
by  their  general  youth  and  comeliness. 

It  is  a  simple,  quiet  scene;  but  how  attractive  and  ex- 
pressive Luini  has  made  it,  by  the  investiture  of  refinement 
and  beauty.  The  Disputa  on  the  other  hand  is  necessarily 
a  scene  of  stern,  dramatic  intensity,  filled  with  personages 
past  the  bloom  of  life,  whose  wrinkled  severity  is  lightened 
only  by  the  central  grace  of  the  youthful  Christ.  He  stands 
upon  a  throne-chair  amidst  the  arguing  priests  and  scribes, 
one  hand  extended  outwardly  and  the  other  pointing  heaven- 
ward,—  a  lovely,  inspiring  figure  with  flowing  black  locks, 
His  young  Jewish  countenance  already  marked  with  His  tre- 
mendous fate.  The  gravity  of  the  scene  has  been  moderated 
in  this  case  by  the  introduction  of  the  Madonna,  who  seem- 
ingly enters  from  the  right  to  bring  the  Boy  to  His  home. 
The  painter  has  also  introduced  himself,  in  the  grim,  white- 
headed  friar  seated  at  the  extreme  right,  facing  the  spectator ; 
which  shows  him  at  this  time  to  have  been  far  advanced  in 
years,  but  still  hale  and  vigorous.  Both  of  these  pictures 
are  wonderfully  coloured,  the  draperies  resplendent  in  soft, 
bright  hues  that  blend  harmoniously  into  dazzling  themes: 
the  Sposalizio  is  a  concord  of  delightful  orange,  blue,  and 
yellow,  the  Disputa  aglow  with  carmine  tints  and  violet. 


128  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

Advancing  into  the  little  choir,  which  is  no  more  than  20 
feet  square,  I  found  myself  between  two  masterpieces;  oc- 
cupying practically  the  whole  of  the  side-walls,  about  16 
feet  in  width  by  20  in  height,  they  filled  the  confined  space 
with  an  unutterable  glory  of  colours  and  beatific  forms. 
On  the  right  were  the  Magi,  kneeling  before  the  Holy 
Family,  with  their  oriental  train  stretching  away  behind 
them  up  the  steep  hillside  to  the  rear:  a  scene  so  perfectly 
depicted  that  I  seemed  no  longer  restricted  by  walls,  but 
to  be  gazing  out  upon  the  actual  landscape  with  its  holy 
figures.  On  the  left  was  the  further  illusion  of  a  superb 
columned  hall,  seen  through  an  archway,  on  whose  tessellated 
pavement  were  grouped  naturally  a  dozen  persons;  fore- 
most was  the  venerable  high-priest,  holding  the  infant  Jesus 
in  his  arms, —  beside  him,  the  very  lovely  Madonna,  gazing 
anxiously  at  her  babe,  and  being  reassured  by  her  emphatic 
mother.  St.  Joseph  stood  at  the  left,  with  a  small  group 
of  friends,  and  roundabout  moved  a  number  of  acolytes  and 
assisting  maidens. 

Both  of  these  great  pictures  are  freely  spaced  and  naturally 
3'et  strikingly  composed, —  the  settings  and  perspective  real- 
istic, the  human  figures  lustrous  with  bright-hued  garments 
and  forms  of  Luinesque  beauty.  Especially  lovely  is  the 
group  of  the  Holy  Family  with  the  Magi,  sitting  before  a 
genuine  old  stable,  with  the  various  animals  occupying  its 
yard ;  amongst  the  group  is  "  one  young  man  of  wholly  Leon- 
ardesque  loveliness,  whose  divine  innocence  of  adolescence, 
unalloyed  by  serious  thought,  unstirred  by  passions,  almost 
forces  a  comparison  with  Sodoma. — Yet  Sodoma  had  not 
all  Luini's  innocence  or  naivete. — Time .  and  neglect  have 
done  no  damage  here ;  and  here,  again,  perforce  we  notice 
perfect  mastery  of  colour  in  fresco. —  Nowhere  else  has  he 


SARONNO  AND  VARESE  129 

shown  more  beauty  and  variety  in  detail."  u  Well  may 
Ruskin  say,  "  Every  touch  he  lays  is  eternal;  every  thought 
he  conceives  is  beautiful  and  pure;  his  hand  moves  always 
in  radiance  of  blessing."  12 

Above  these  great  tableaux,  in  lunettes  around  small,  high 
windows,  are  separate  figures  by  the  master,  on  the  same 
high  plane  of  excellence:  sibyls,  evangelists,  and  fathers  of 
the  Church, —  four  of  each.  The  choir's  rear  side  contains 
another  archway,  almost  entirely  blocked  by  the  high-altar 
with  its  statues,  which  leaves  just  sufficient  space  on  each 
hand  for  passage  to  the  little  retro-choir.  Advancing  into 
this,  I  found  two  more  Luini  productions  frescoed  above  its 
semicircular  bench, —  the  famous  figures  of  St.  Catherine 
and  St.  Apollonia,  each  accompanied  by  a  kneeling  angel 
holding  a  sacramental  dish;  and  these  seemed  to  me  the 
most  divinely  beautiful  of  all.  The  quiet,  simply  clad,  maid- 
enly forms  of  the  saints  were  endowed  with  a  striking  love- 
liness that  no  words  can  portray;  and  the  angels  shone 
with  a  glory  truly  celestial. 

In  the  adjacent  sacristy  there  was  a  good  picture  by 
Procaccini, —  a  group  of  three  saints ;  and  on  returning  to 
the  nave,  I  found  some  more  pleasing  frescoes  that  are  now 
accredited  to  Luini,  in  a  side-chapel  just  before  the  pres- 
bytery. They  decorate  its  vaulting,  in  a  sumptuous  style, 
intermixed  with  elaborate  panellings  and  arabesques, —  four 
of  them  being  large-winged  putti,  standing  with  instruments 
of  the  Passion  in  their  hands  (probably  painted  by  Luini's 
assistants),  and  the  fifth  being  one  of  those  well-like  per- 
spectives invented  by  Mantegna,  placed  at  the  summit  of  the 
vaulting,   with   various  persons  looking  down   over  its   top 

11  J.  A.  Symonds'  "  Sketches  and  Studies  in  Italy." 

12  Ruskin's  "  Queen  of  the  Air." 


130  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

balustrade,  in  a  very  realistic  manner.  The  latter  betrays 
the  master's  own  hand. 

The  last,  but  not  the  least,  of  his  great  efforts  here,  still 
remained  to  be  seen  in  the  adjacent  cloister;  upon  whose  wall 
is  shown  the  celebrated  Nativity, —  more  properly  called  an 
Adoration  of  the  Child.  "  This  was,  it  is  said,  painted  by 
Luini  freely,  as  a  gift  to  the  monks  expressive  of  his  pleasure 
at  the  treatment  he  received  at  their  hands." 13  It  is  a 
lunette,  representing  the  Babe  lying  upon  a  basket  before 
the  open  door  of  the  stable,  with  the  Madonna  kneeling 
upon  one  side  and  St.  Joseph  upon  the  other;  their  hands 
are  crossed  or  folded  upon  their  breasts,  their  eyes  fixed  rev- 
erently upon  the  adored  being;  in  the  background  are  visible 
the  customary  ass  and  cow,  within  the  doorway,  and  far 
to  the  left  the  shepherds  tend  their  sheep  upon  a  hillside. 

Nothing  could  be  more  simple  in  composition,  in  setting, 
in  attitudes,  costumes  and  accessories,  while  of  movement 
there  is  none ;  yet  with  what  ineffable  charm  of  sentiment 
has  Luini  endowed  it.  The  homely  figures  are  luminous 
with  tender,  holy  feelings,  which  light  their  faces  with  an 
ideal  beauty.  In  depicting  such  a  scene  the  master  had  no 
superior;  we  behold  in  it  exactly  those  qualities  which  were 
the  reflex  of  his  character,  and  in  which  he  therefore  became 
pre-eminent.  For,  "  he  was  not  dramatic  in  his  expression, 
but  rather  lyric,  not  inductive  but  deductive,  not  objective 
but  subjective.  His  visions  were  within  his  breast;  they 
inspired  his  art. —  The  domestic  element  is  uppermost,  the 
heroic  or  epic  almost  absent,  the  idyllic  in  the  greatest  de- 
mand. Later  on  —  comes  the  deep  and  intense  religious 
devotion,  and  it  is  that  which  is  the  keynote  of  his  life. 
Symonds  recognised  his  wonderful  power  to  '  create  a 
mood.'     His  pictures,   like  a  note  of  music,  draw  a  corre- 

13  G.  C.  Williamson's  "  Bernardino  Luini." 


SARONNO  AND  VARESE  131 

sponding  chord  from  the  heart,  and  this  chord  is,  at  the  will 
of  the  painter,  bright  with  joy  or  tremulant  with  sorrow 
or  grief. —  His  own  tenderness  of  nature,  the  sweetness  of 
his  affections,  his  chivalry,  thoughtfulness,  serious  disposi- 
tion, and  calm  serene  faith, —  all  these  are  elements  of  his 
lift  taught  by  his  pictures. —  He  had  an  original  and  ex- 
quisite feeling,  as  Symonds  says,  for  loveliness  of  form,  and 
poetic  sentiment, —  combined  with  a  deep  sense  of  life's  pro- 
founder  side,  its  pathos,  its  sorrow,  and  its  suffering. — 
He  was  neither  so  subtle  nor  so  profound  as  Leonardo.  He 
was  not  so  archaic  as  are  Borgognone  and  Foppa,  nor  so 
architectural  as  Bramantini,  nor  so  luscious  nor  voluptuous 
in  style  and  colouring  as  Gaudenzio  Ferrari."  14 

Ruskin  best  sums  it  up,  in  saying:  "  He  joins  the  purity 
and  passion  of  Angelico  to  the  strength  of  Veronese;  the 
two  elements,  poised  in  perfect  balance,  are  so  calmed  and 
restrained,  that  most  of  us  love  the  sense  of  both.  The  artist 
does  not  see  the  strength  by  reason  of  the  chastened  spirit 
in  which  it  is  used;  and  the  religious  visionary  does  not 
recognise  the  passion  by  reason  of  the  frank  human  truth  with 
which  it  is  rendered.  He  has  left  nothing  behind  him  that 
is  not  lovely,  and  is  perhaps  the  best  central  type  of  the 
highly  trained  Italian  painter,  hard-working,  industrious, 
who  laboured  with  his  whole  heart  and  soul."  15 

On  returning  to  the  station,  I  continued  along  the  high- 
way through  the  town,  which  was  narrowed  for  some  dis- 
tance by  a  continuous  arcade  upon  the  left;  the  ground 
floors  of  the  old  stuccoed  buildings  were  filled  with  the  usual 
quaint  little  shops  and  cafes,  from  which  the  sunlight  was 
mostly  excluded.  Several  small  alberghi  also  appeared, 
at  one  of  which  I  procured  a  satisfactory  lunch.     On  re- 

14  G.  C.  Williamson's  "  Bernardino  Luini," 

15  Ruskin's  "  Queen  of  the  Air," 


132  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

nevving  my  walk,  I  found  the  full  extent  of.  the  thoroughfare 
to  be  nearly  a  mile.  A  third  of  the  way  along,  an  old 
church  was  upon  the  right,  having  a  grimy  stucco  fagade  of 
baroque  design,  a  low  wooden  ceiling,  and  countless  frescoes 
of  the  Leonardesque  school  all  over  its  walls, —  more  or  less 
bad  and  imperfectly  preserved. 

The  principal  church,  Sts.  Peter  and  Paul,  appeared  when 
I  had  advanced  about  as  far  again,  looking  down  the  long 
street  from  the  eastern  side  of  a  wide  piazza  into  which  it 
debouched.  The  edifice  was  brand-new,  of  white  stucco 
with  grey  trimmings,  and  of  fair  renaissance  design  both 
inside  and  out;  the  spacious  interior  being  remarkable  for 
its  good  taste  and  freedom  from  over-ornamentation.  It 
was  encouraging  to  find  this  evidence  of  a  turn  for  the 
better.  The  piazza  itself  was  lined  with  stuccoed  arcades, 
containing  groups  of  cafe-tables,  and,  although  it  was  not 
a  market-day,  was  thronged  with  peasantry  and  towns- 
people, whose  decent  clothes  betokened  their  prosperity.  A 
couple  of  modern  monuments  graced  the  central  space,  and 
at  one  side  was  the  terminus  of  the  tramway  line  from 
Milan.  Beyond  the  piazza,  still  eastward,  the  town  con- 
tinued along  the  highway  for  another  third  of  a  mile,  in 
the  shape  of  more  recent  residences,  surrounded  by  lawns 
and  gardens. 

By  the  middle  of  the  afternoon  I  was  out  of  the  place, 
rolling  northward  again  toward  the  lake-region.  We  had 
not  proceeded  many  miles  before  a  noticeable  alteration  of 
the  scenery  occurred :  the  perfectly  flat  plain  gave  way  to 
a  country  gently  undulating  here  and  there,  rising  now 
and  then  into  knolls  covered  with  wood  or  graced  by  villas. 
We  were  upon  the  steady  ascent  which  mounts  so  quickly 
yet  imperceptibly  from  the  400  feet  elevation  of  the  Milanese 
to  the  1,250  feet  of  the  Varese  tableland.     The  route  was 


SARONNO  AND  VARESE  133 

northwest,  gradually  converging  upon  the  valley  proper  of 
the  Olona.  At  Tradate  (1,000  feet)  the  mountains  of  the 
lake-region  loomed  into  view  ahead,  in  a  stupendous,  awe- 
some semicircle,  behind  the  detached  height  of  the  famous 
Monte  dei  Fiori.  This  stands  a  few  miles  northwest  of 
Varese,  in  isolated  grandeur  between  the  lower  ends  of  Lakes 
Lugano  and  Maggiore,  rising  abruptly  from  the  swelling 
tableland  to  a  height  of  7,300  feet;  and  is  celebrated,  not 
only  for  its  view,  but  chiefly  for  the  shrine  of  the  Madonna 
del  Monte,  founded  by  St.  Ambrogio  many  centuries  ago; 
this  is  perched  upon  its  shoulder,  3,000  feet  in  air,  and  is 
one  of  Italy's  greatest  pilgrimage  resorts.  It  is,  in  fact, 
Varese's  chief  attraction ;  and  I  looked  eagerly  at  its  glit- 
tering white  pinnacle  upon  the  distant  crag. 

At  the  station  of  Venegono  Superiore,  shortly  beyond,  I 
knew  we  were  but  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  stream  and 
gorge  of  the  Olona.  I  clid  not  descend  for  Castiglione, 
because  of  the  supposed  primitiveness  of  its  inn  accommo- 
dations ;  reserving  my  visit  —  as  one  can  do  very  easily  — 
for  a  day's  trip  from  Varese.  A  little  later  we  joined  with 
the  line  running  from  Varese  to  Como,  then  turned  west- 
ward, and,  after  a  short  stop  at  Malnate,  came  at  last  to 
the  Olona  canyon  itself.  As  the  train  slowly  crawled  over 
it  upon  an  attenuated,  shaky  trestle,  I  saw  its  grassy  bottom 
meandering  between  the  precipitous  banks  three  hundred 
feet  below.  Once  across,  we  followed  its  right  bank,  to 
the  northwest  again;  and  on  approaching  Varese,  executed 
a  volte-face,  making  a  complete  semicircle  before  pulling 
into  the  station  at  the  city's  southeastern  side. 

Descending,  I  found  another  station  close  at  hand  upon 
the  left,  that  of  the  other  line,  which  climbs  the  western 
side  of  the  Olona  valley,  via  Busto  Arsizio  and  Gallarate. 
From  both  stations  streets  quickly  converge  upon  the  main 


134  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

avenue  of  the  town,  Corso  Roma,  which  proceeds  north- 
westward through  the  centre.  This  I  followed,  bag  in 
hand,  finding  it  lined  by  modern,  plastered  buildings  of  four 
and  five  stories,  with  large  electric  trams  coursing  in  both 
directions;  and  a  six  or  seven  minutes'  walk  brought  me  to 
the  imposing  Albergo  Italia, —  a  handsome,  square  building 
located  near  the  city's  centre,  just  at  the  commencement 
of  the  Corso's  medizeval  arcades.  To  my  pleasure,  it  proved 
a' most  attractive,  well-kept  hostelry  of  the  older  style,  with 
excellent  rooms,  service  and  cooking,  and  low  prices.  My 
large  front  chamber  cost  me  but  2.50  lire  per  day.  In 
the  summer-time  it  is  frequented  by  numbers  of  the  English 
and  Germans  who  come  to  Varese  for  long  stays;  though 
the  great  majority  of  them  rest  at  the  Grand  Hotel  Ex- 
celsior, which  is  situated  amidst  extensive  grounds,  a  mile 
to  the  west  of  the  town, —  a  genuine  old  summer  resort  of 
the  first  class,  with  high  prices,  and  magnificent  views  over 
the  rolling  countryside  with  its  lakes. 

Though  so  modern  now  in  appearance,  Varese  is  an 
ancient  place,  having  been  an  important  military  post  in 
Roman  times,  when  it  was  surrounded  by  a  heavy  wall  and 
a  deep  ditch,  remains  of  which  can  still  be  seen.  It  retained 
its  importance  in  subsequent  ages,  and  suffered  much  in 
mediaeval  days  through  its  possession  being  disputed  in  the 
successive  wars  of  the  Milanese;  for  it  is  not  only  the  nat- 
ural capital  of  this  rich  upland  region,  but  from  its  situation 
controls  many  of  the  routes  leading  northward  between  Lakes 
Como  and  Maggiore.  The  Swiss  frontier  now  lies  but 
half  a  dozen  miles  to  the  northeast;  and  the  city  is  conse- 
quently one  of  the  chief  headquarters  for  smugglers  and 
their  plots.  But  yesterday,  as  I  write,  the  leaders  of  a 
notorious  band  were  arrested  in  their  hiding-place,  headed 
by  a  certain  famous  marchese  who  has  for  years  past  con- 


SARONNO  AND  VARESE  135 

ducted  his  operations  on  an  unprecedented  scale,  with  hun- 
dreds of  men  and  vast  quantities  of  illicit  goods;  regular 
caravans  of  these  porters  traverse  the  unfrequented  passes 
by  midnight,  and  actual  battles  often  occur  with  the  frontier 
guards. 

Varese  and  her  territory  were  successively  possessed  by 
the  houses  of  Visconti  and  Sforza,  the  Spanish  viceroys,  and 
the  Austrians;  but  later  she  experienced  an  exceptional  fate, 
in  that  the  town  itself  was  handed  over  by  Empress  Maria 
Teresa  to  Francis  III,  Duke  of  Modena,  as  a  friendly  gift 
for  the  purposes  of  the  latter's  villegglatura.  He  erected 
here  a  large  palace,  with  beautiful  gardens,  in  which  he 
held  a  brilliant  court  during  the  heated  season.  "  It  was 
this  prince  who  first  launched  Varese  on  its  commercial  and 
industrial  career.  He  instituted  and  encouraged  its  agri- 
cultural enterprises,  and  would  seem  to  have  been  an  en- 
lightened and  judicious  ruler,  far  in  advance  of  his  times."  ie 
After  his  death  in  1780,  however,  Varese  soon  reverted  to 
Austrian  control,  which  was  maintained  until  her  famous 
plebiscite  of  i860,  that  made  her  the  first  city  in  Italy  to 
accept  the  government  of  Savoy. 

So  thoroughly  has  this  town  of  18,000  inhabitants  been 
rebuilt  by  their  modern  prosperity,  that  it  contains  within 
its  limits  few  objects  of  interest.  On  starting  out  the  next 
morning  I  followed  the  main  street,  Corso  Roma,  north- 
westward through  its  arcades  with  their  bright  shops  and 
cafes,  to  the  near-by  Piazza  Porcari, —  a  small  triangular 
space  at  the  city's  centre.  Thence  the  Corso  Vittorio 
Emanuele  diverged  to  the  north,  likewise  arcaded  and  de- 
voted to  business.  A  short  way  up  this,  opened  the  small 
Piazza  del  Podesta,  containing  a  good  recent  bronze  mon- 
ument,—  of  a  soldier  holding  a  battle-flag  and  a  gun,  with 

aG  Richard  Bagot's  "  The  Lakes  of  Northern  Italy." 


136  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

an  inscription  upon  the  base  to  the  "  Cacciatori  delle  Alpi, — 
who,  on  the  morning  of  May  26,  1859,  under  the  leadership 
of  Garibaldi,  fought  and  conquered,  acclaiming  for  Italy 
and  the  King."  This  reminded  me  that  it  was  here,  at 
Varese,  that  that  independent  chieftain  won  one  of  his  most 
important  battles,  driving  back  with  his  irregular  volun- 
teers the  northern  forces  of  the  Austrians,  and  freeing  the 
whole  lake  region, —  while  their  main  body  was  being  en- 
gaged by  the  French  and  Piedmontese  armies  at  Magenta. 

"  Garibaldi,  who  had  been  the  last  to  leave  Lombardy  in 
1848,  was  now  the  first  to  set  foot  in  its  territory  in  1859. 
Since  the  23d  of  May,  he  had  led  his  own  Cacciatori  to 
the  Lombard  shores  of  Lago  Maggiore,  had  defeated  the 
Austrians  at  Varese,  entered  Como,  routed  the  enemy  afresh 
at  San  Fermo,  and  was  now  proceeding  to  Bergamo  and 
Brescia,  with  the  intention  of  reaching  the  Alps  of  the 
Trentino,  to  cut  off  the  enemy's  retreat."  17  He  entered 
Bergamo  on  June  8th,  the  same  day  that  the  allies  made 
their  triumphal  entry  into  Milan. — A  bust  of  Garibaldi  in 
bronze-relief  appropriately  adorns  the  face  of  the  granite 
pedestal,  and  other  reliefs  of  piled  arms  decorate  its  sides. 

Directly  opposite  this,  upon  the  eastern  side  of  the  piazza, 
the  arcades  which  encircle  it  are  broken  by  a  tall  monu- 
mental archway  framed  in  marble,  superimposed  by  a  second 
story  which  is  elaborately  adorned  with  stucco  arabesques 
upon  frieze  and  corniced  window-frame,  and  crowned  by  a 
classic  pediment  with  three  marble  statues, —  a  central  figure 
flanked  by  two  charming  putti.  In  the  arch  is  framed  a 
pleasing  vista:  beyond  its  deep  passage  opens  another  and 
more  spacious  piazza,  behind  which  rises  a  fine  renaissance 
church  fronted  by  massive  columns,  with  a  lofty,  detached, 
impressive  campanile  soaring  beside  it.     It  is  the  parochial 

"Orsi's    "Modern   Italy,"    Chap.   XIV. 


SARONNO  AND  VARESE  137 

church  of  San  Vittore,  dating  from  earliest  ages,  though  now 
a  structure  of  the  cinquccento,  designed  by  Pellegrino  Tibaldi. 
The  imitation  stone  fagade,  is  still  later,  of  the  18th  century: 
the  nave  being  faced  by  four  ionic  columns,  and  the  lower 
aisles  by  ionic  pilasters,  while  the  large  flat  pediment  is 
topped  by  a  bronze  cross  upheld  by  two  pretty  marble  cher- 
ubs. 

I  approached  to  examine  the  remarkable  campanile,  also 
by  Pellegrino,  which  is  the  most  conspicuous  object  in  the 
city,  rising  to  a  height  of  246  feet.  It  is  of  seven  tall  divi- 
sions, diversely  constructed  of  grey  limestone  and  red  brick 
with  trimmings  of  the  same,  decorated  with  classic  window- 
frames,  and  clock-faces  bordered  by  huge  stone  lion-heads  ; 
the  handsome  belfry  opens  with  triple  renaissance  windows, 
each  having  two  pairs  of  coupled  doric  columns,  and  its 
heavy  cornice  is  topped  by  a  balustrade,  crowned  with  stone 
vases  filled  with  fruits;  thence  it  terminates  in  a  baroque 
octagonal  lantern,  and  a  byzantine  cupola.  The  labour 
upon  it  must  have  been  enormous.  Another  costly  baroque 
construction  is  the  church's  lofty  peak,  consisting  of  an  ex- 
traordinary octagonal  drum,  with  elaborate  pilastered  win- 
dows, a  lantern,  and  a  flashing,  gilded  dome. 

After  a  glance  around  the  other  sides  of  this  piazza,  built 
up  with  three-storied  dwellings  painted  in  soft  hues  of  red 
and  drab  and  yellow,  I  entered  the  round-arched  nave,  which 
proved  to  have  been  redecorated  in  baroque  days ;  decadent 
frescoes  and  stucco  reliefs  covered  the  walls  and  vaulting, 
and  the  sides  of  the  low  aisles  were  solidly  hung  with  huge, 
dark,  regressive  canvases.  The  best  works  were  those  over 
the  recessed  side-altars,  and  at  the  apsidal  ends  of  the  tran- 
septs,—  groups  of  enormous  saintly  figures,  life-like  but  un- 
interesting, by  Morazzone,  Crespi,  and  other  late  Lom- 
bards.    The  lines  of  the  edifice  were  good  and  spacious;  the 


i38  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

transept,  nave  and  choir  were  equally  wide  and  deep,  and  the 
dome  imposing;  while  the  choir  seized  the  eye  with  its  great 
masses  of  black,  carved  wood,  doubtless  painted,  but  still 
very  effective, —  consisting  of  two  music  lofts,  and  two  pul- 
pits at  the  front  angles,  all  quite  large,  and  sculptured  be- 
yond the  power  of  pen  to  describe.  The  splendid  high  pul- 
pits were  sustained  each  by  four  hermes  of  heroic  size, — 
saints  and  mitred  bishops;  and  four  bishops  of  solid  silver 
were  posed  upon  the  altar.  One  more  noticeable  object  was 
the  realistic  Crucifixion,  with  lifesize  figures  of  wax  or 
stucco,  posed  in  a  side  altar-recess,  which  was  cleverly  and 
vividly  lighted  by  rows  of  electric  bulbs  concealed  within 
the  frame. 

Walking  around  the  exterior,  I  observed  in  the  Piazza 
della  Canonica,  behind  the  apse,  a  most  curious,  mediaeval 
well-top  of  painted  stucco,  covered,  and  opening  upon  one 
side  only;  near  it  was  one  of  those  strange  old  palaces  with 
its  architectural  details  entirely  painted, —  the  windows  en- 
dowed with  fanciful  baroque  frames.  In  still  another  small 
piazza,  beside  the  right  transept,  and  behind  the  campanile, 
I  found  the  very  old,  romanesque  baptistery, —  a  square 
building  with  a  grey  stone  face;  the  pilaster-strips  at  its  an- 
gles, with  mouthing  faces  peering  out  from  the  leaves  of  their 
capitals,  and  the  arcaded  cornice  along  the  eaves,  were  of 
Lombard  design;  but  the  round-arched  portal,  recessed  four- 
fold, with  the  antique  image  of  the  Lamb  upon  its  lintel, 
showed  gothic  influence  in  the  caps  of  its  columns,  and  con- 
tained in  its  lunette  a  gothic  fresco  of  Madonna  and  saints. 
In  the  right  side-wall  opened  a  gothic,  pointed  doorway,  of 
good  form,  with  another  quaint  early  Madonna  frescoed  in 
its  lunette.  Thus  the  building  was  clearly  of  the  transition 
period, —  probably  the  later  part  of  the  trecento.  Inside 
there  was  a  single  lofty  chamber,  with  the  ancient  font  in  its 


SARONNO  AND  VARESE  139 

centre,  and  in  the  rear  a  low-arched  altar-recess,  broad  and 
deep,  upon  whose  walls  lingered  remnants  of  quattrocento 
frescoes.  Here,  upon  the  altar,  stood  Varese's  one  fine  paint- 
ing,—  a  splendid  example  of  Gerolamo  Giovenone  of  Ver- 
celli,  Gaudenzio  Ferrari's  fellow-pupil  and  follower.  It 
represents  a  seated  Madonna  with  her  Child,  flanked  by 
John  the  Baptist  and  another  saint, —  the  latter  a  handsome 
youth  in  long-hose,  velvet  cap  and  cloak;  and  though  not  a 
work  of  genius,  it  is  a  picture  of  much  charm. 

The  font  was  also  quite  interesting, —  its  octagonal,  grey 
stone  base  being  cut  upon  each  face  with  two  or  three  figures 
of  saints,  about  two  feet  in  height,  which  were  evidently 
works  of  the  early  Middle  Ages, — prior  at  least  to  the  14th 
century.  The  front  side  exhibited  the  Christ  with  John  the 
Baptist,  and  a  bishop, —  probably  the  town's  protector ;  two 
of  the  sides  were  still  in  a  rough,  uncarved  state.  This 
stone  of  indefinite  antiquity,  upon  which  so  many  generations 
of  Varesans  have  been  baptised,  without  exception,  for  nearly 
a  millennium, —  is  naturally  very  much  prized  by  the  people. 
Its  ornate  wooden  cover  is  modern. 

Retraversing  the  Piazza  del  Podesta,  I  investigated  an 
archway  in  its  western  arcade,  behind  the  monument,  dis- 
covering that  it  led  immediately  to  a  curious  old  colonnaded 
court3'ard  of  some  size,  surrounded  by  stuccoed  arches  upon 
granite  columns,  whose  spandrels  were  decorated  with  the 
remains  of  gay  Renaissance  paintings ;  these  were  medallions 
containing  busts  of  elaborately  dressed  personages,  and  other 
designs  more  fantastic.  It  had  clearly  been  once  the  court- 
yard of  a  showy  cinquecento  palace;  the  thought  was  sad- 
dening, when  contemplating  its  present  abandonment  and  de- 
cay. But  it  turned  out  to  form  now  a  passage  to  the  street 
in  its  rear;  turning  to  the  left  in  which,  a  few  paces  brought 
me  to  the  Via  Luigi  Sacchi, —  the  northwestern  continuation 


140  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

of  Corso  Roma  beyond  the  Piazza  Porcari.  Here  I  beheld, 
to  the  right,  an  enormous  stuccoed  palace,  stretching  for  a 
couple  of  hundred  yards  along  the  avenue's  southwestern  side: 
it  was  the  "  Corte  "  of  Duke  Francis, —  now  used  as  the 
Municipio. 

In  spite  of  its  great  length  this  building  was  not  impres- 
sive ;  for  it  had  but  three  storeys  in  the  central  portion,  two 
storeys  in  the  wings,  and  exhibited  the  cheap  appearance  of 
the  later  rococo  period.  It  was  painted  a  light  rose  colour, 
now  faded,  with  brown  trimmings  of  pilaster-strips  and 
baroque  window-frames;  the  top  parapet  was  graced  only  by 
a  few  vases  and  gables ;  all  other  ornamentation  lay  in  the 
three  grey  stone  entrances,  equidistant, —  the  central  of  which 
was  a  granite  archway  framed  by  doric  columns,  and  topped 
by  a  long  balcony,  upon  whose  railing,  as  well  as  from  the 
central  gable  overhead,  glistened  the  gilded  ducal  arms  of 
the  long-dead  prince.  Advancing  to  this  portal,  I  caught 
through  its  archway  a  delightful  vista  of  the  gardens  behind : 
beyond  a  deep  stretch  of  turf  and  flowerbeds  mounted  curv- 
ing green  terraces,  one  upon  another,  to  a  considerable  height, 
crowned  by  a  splendid  grove  of  cypresses;  near  the  foot  of 
the  imposing  semicircle  there  glistened  a  marble  memorial  of 
Umberto  I,  upon  a  high  stone  pedestal,  and  still  higher,  a 
marble  statue  upon  a  triple-arched  grotto  of  grey  and  white 
stripes,  that  backed  a  splashing  fountain.  It  was  a  beautiful 
scene, —  much   like   the   Boboli   gardens  at  Florence. 

It  spread  itself  wide  before  me  as  I  entered,  revealing  four 
magnificent  evergreens  —  two  larches  and  two  cypresses  — 
ornamenting  the  enclosed  level  behind  the  flowerbeds ;  flank- 
ing the  natural  theatre  were  square-cut  lines  of  tall  box- 
hedges,  shaped  into  alleys  and  archways,  backed  in  turn  by 
larger  groves  of  trees, —  grand  old  elms,  birches,  maples  and 
other  cypresses;  everywhere  through  the  parterre  ran  wind- 


SARONNO  AND  VARESE  141 

ing  gravelled  paths,  with  benches  at  intervals,  upon  which  a 
few  people  were  sitting  idly.  It  was  now  the  city's  pleasure- 
ground.  But  what  a  charming  picture  must  it  have  pre- 
sented in  those  bygone  days  of  the  royal  court,  when  wan- 
dered over  by  gay  dames  d'honneur  in  the  costumes  of  Marie 
Antoinette,  attended  by  courtiers  in  silken  small-clothes, 
rapiers  and  powdered  hair,  who  followed  the  fashion  of  Ver- 
sailles in  seeking  rustic  scenes. 

Over  the  western  treetops  there  soared  afar  into  the  sky 
an  object  that  lent  its  final  majesty  to  the  scene:  a  tremen- 
dous rocky  mountain-top, —  a  bare  and  beetling  pinnacle, 
reaching  to  the  clouds, —  crowned  upon  its  very  apex  with 
a  towered  church  and  clustering  houses,  whose  gleaming 
white  walls  seemed  not  a  league  away.  It  was  indeed  a 
startling  sight,  this  village  of  the  sky,  suspended  there  so 
far  in  heaven,  without  the  base  that  sustained  it  being  visible. 
But  I  knew  it  for  the  shrine  of  the  Sacromonte,  on  the  shoul- 
der of  the  Monte  dei  Fiori. 

In  the  palace  itself  there  was  little  of  interest, —  its  plain, 
grey,  stuccoed  walls  running  away  on  each  hand  from  the 
central  colonnaded  court.  Through  its  middle,  lengthways, 
extended  an  unbroken  corridor,  connecting  with  the  four 
smaller  courts,  and  lined  with  many  busts  and  monuments 
to  the  patriots  of  the  Risorgimento.  In  one  wing  were  lo- 
cated the  city's  post  and  telegraph  offices;  in  another,  its 
solitary  museum,  composed  of  unimportant  antiquities  of  va- 
rious kinds. 

Along  Corso  Roma  and  past  the  palace  run  several  lines 
of  tramcars,  one  of  them  bound  for  the  Sacromonte,  another 
for  the  western  region  about  Lake  Varese.  It  was  one  of 
the  latter  cars  that  I  took  that  afternoon, —  a  large,  com- 
fortable, electric  tram,  of  a  single  class,  run  very  swiftly,  as 
they  are  upon  all  the  routes.     It  turned  to  the  left  just  be- 


i42  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

yond  the  "  Corte,"  and  sped  southwestward  over  the  undu- 
lating countryside,  following  a  highway,  which  brought  us 
within  not  more  than  a  mile  to  the  gates  of  the  park  of  Hotel 
Excelsior,  at  Casbeno  village.  I  wandered  through  the 
shady  roads  of  the  pleasant  wood,  coming  out  upon  the  lofty 
garden  before  the  hotel-building, —  which  was  for  centuries 
a  famous  villa  of  one  of  the  great  Milanese  families.  The 
garden  was  charming,  the  old  villa  spacious  and  imposing ; 
but  that  which  I  had  come  for  was  the  wonderful  view,  so 
long  celebrated,  that  spread  from  the  terrace  over  countless 
leagues  of  country,  revealing  the  wThole  topography  of  the 
district. 

Just  below  on  the  west  lay  the  shining  Lago  di  Varese  in 
its  shallow  basin,  an  elongated  triangle  6  or  7  miles  in  length ; 
beyond  it  glistened  amongst  gentle  wooded  hills  the  smaller 
lakes  of  Biandronno,  Monate  and  Comabbio ;  to  southward 
the  rich  uplands  billowed  softly  away  to  the  plain,  their 
elevations  crowned  by  towered  villages.  Behind  me  rose 
still  higher  the  hillside  on  which  I  stood,  stretching  far  to 
east  and  west,  and  laden  with  countless  villas, —  stately, 
stuccoed  edifices  ensconced  in  wooded  grounds.  Upon  the 
near  slope  to  the  northwest,  I  saw  the  new  Casino  of  Varese 
with  its  heavy  dome,  which  has  just  been  opened  to  supply 
the  foreign  visitors  with  amusements.  Behind  it  closely, 
rose  the  picturesque  pinnacle  of  the  Sacromonte,  and  behind 
that  again,  the  vast  mass  of  the  Monte  dei  Fiori,  soaring 
steeply  from  the  northern  shore  of  Lake  Varese.  In  the  far 
west,  clouds  now  concealed  the  horizon ;  but  when  the  sun 
sinks  clear,  the  whole  range  of  Monte  Rosa  glitters  in  plain 
view  from  here,  a  hundred  mighty  icicles  against  a  reddening 
sky.  Here  if  anywhere  could  Addison  have  written  to  Lord 
Halifax: 


SARONNO  AND  VARESE  143 

"Poetic  fields  encompass  me  around 
And  still  I  seem  to  tread  a  classic  ground. 
For  here  the  Muse  so  oft  her  harp  has  strung 
That  not  a  mountain  rears  its  head  unsung." 

Still  more  fully  were  the  splendid  riches  and  views  of 
this  countryside  revealed  the  next  day,  as  the  tramcar  bore 
me  to  the  sacred  mountain.  Everywhere  over  the  rolling 
fields  glistened  the  white  walls  of  villas  and  prosperous  farm- 
houses; and  villages  studded  the  landscape.  "  Silk,  oil,  grain, 
flax,  grapes,  and  fruit  of  all  kinds  are  among  the  abundant 
produce  of  the  Varesotto ;  while  rich  pasture-lands,  scien- 
tifically irrigated  at  the  proper  seasons  of  the  year,  support 
quantities  of  cattle,  and  form  the  necessary  base  for  vast 
dairy-farms  and  cheese  factories,  which  export  their  material 
far  beyond  the  Alps."  18  The  route  led  northwestward  upon 
the  continuation  of  Via  Luigi  Sacchi,  passing  the  town  of  S. 
Ambrogio,  steadily  ascending  to  Fogliaro,  and  then  climbing 
the  mountain's  base  by  means  of  a  large  loop, —  till  we  reached 
the  station  of  the  Prima  Capella;  there  commenced  the  ex- 
traordinary ancient  highway  which  leads  windingly  up  the 
face  of  the  crag,  past  sixteen  separate  chapels,  to  the  village 
at  the  summit.  We  could  see  its  repeated  loops,  far  above 
on  the  steep,  wooded  slope,  marked  by  their  white  parapets 
and  successive  chapel-buildings,  domed  and  shining;  while 
over  all  loomed  the  amazing  supreme  pinnacle,  with  its  cone 
of  huddled  dwellings  around  the  shrine. 

Here  all  the  genuine  pilgrims  of  the  train  commenced  their 
climb  of  the  sacred  mountain  on  foot,  as  well  as  those  visitors 
who  would  make  the  approach  in  proper  manner,  as  it  was 
made  for  over  two  centuries  before  electric  traction  was 
dreamed  of;  the  rest  kept  on  to  the  terminal  station  at  the 

18 Richard  Bagot's  "The  Lakes  of  Northern  Italy." 


144  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

western  base,  where  the  crag  adjoins  the  Monte  dei  Fiori ; 
and  thence  ascended  quickly  to  the  summit  by  the  recent 
funicolare.  From  the  same  terminus  another  funicular,  now 
nearly  completed,  will  soon  carry  travellers  to  the  top  of  the 
loftier  mountain,  and  its  new  "Grand  Hotel," — whence 
they  will  enjoy  one  of  the  grandest  panoramas  in  Italy. 

But  no  one  who  has  the  requisite  strength  should  miss 
that  wonderful  climb  on  foot,  with  the  uplands  and  plain 
ever  widening  out  below  him,  flashing  with  their  silvery  lakes, 
dotted  with  their  countless  towns  and  villages;  —  while  the 
ever  succeeding  chapels,  with  their  huge  sculptured  groups 
showing  the  life  of  the  Saviour,  lead  the  visitor  step  by  step 
through  the  scenes  of  His  childhood  and  His  Passion,  till 
the  end  is  reached  at  the  sanctuary  itself.  This  extraordi- 
nary work  was  accomplished  through  the  efforts  of  a  Capu- 
chin monk,  Aguggiari,  at  the  beginning  of  the  17th  century, 
who  by  years  of  fervent  preaching,  all  over  Lombardy, 
collected  more  than  a  million  francs  for  the  purpose;  with 
that  sum,  through  70  years  of  labor,  ending  in  1680,  the 
approach  was  made  and  beautified.  All  these  chapels  are  of 
considerable  size, —  square,  stuccoed  buildings  20  to  30  feet 
in  height,  finely  domed,  with  ornate  entrance-porches  and 
steps,  and  rich  baroque  decorations;  a  number  are  truly 
handsome;  all  are  strikingly  situated  upon  cliffs  or  knolls  of 
the  mountain-side,  in  clear  view  of  the  panorama  below. 
Their  effective  rococo  interiors,  elaborately  finished,  are  really 
frames  to  the  large  sculptured  groups  of  lifesize  figures,  exe- 
cuted in  terracotta  with  painted  backgrounds,  by  prominent 
artists  of  their  period ;  and  these  achieved  a  realism  of  scene,  a 
lifelikeness  of  the  personages,  a  faithful  representation  of 
human  emotions,  which  have  few  equals  anywhere. 

Each  chapel  is  devoted  to  one  tableau,  commencing  at  the 
base  of  the  slope  with  the  Conception  of  the  Virgin,  and 


SARONNO  AND  VARESE  145 

ending  next  the  summit  with  her  Assumption.  Those  which 
I  found  to  be  especially  remarkable  were,  the  Presentation 
at  the  Temple,  which  is  wonderfully  lifelike,  in  a  building 
of  pronounced  beauty;  the  Disputa,  the  Agony  in  the  Gar- 
den, and  the  Jesus  falling  under  the  Cross, —  all  three,  like 
the  Conception,  by  Francesco  Silva;  the  Ascension,  also  by 
him;  and  the  splendid  Crucifixion,  by  Dionigi  Bussola,  which 
makes  one  a  genuine  witness  of  the  awful  Tragedy. 

At  the  head  of  the  final  ascent  beyond  the  last  chapel, 
which  approaches  the  summit  on  the  side  toward  Varese,  I 
came  to  an  enormous  statue  of  Moses,  that  was  posed  before 
an  ornamental,  columned,  stone  wall,  looking  down  the  high- 
way. Beyond  it,  slightly  higher,  opened  a  paved  terrace 
along  the  southern  side  of  the  village,  faced  by  two  small 
inns  for  the  accommodation  of  pilgrims.  This  was  the  finest 
view-point  of  all :  Varese  and  her  lake  lay  at  my  feet ;  the 
smaller  waters  beyond  gleamed  like  a  chain  of  jewels;  the 
uplands  rolled  southward  into  the  limitless,  hazy  plain ;  and 
far  on  the  west  circled  the  mighty  peaks  of  the  sunset  Alps. 

From  this  terrace  a  street  —  if  such  it  could  be  called  — 
led  me  windingly  through  the  ancient  mass  of  houses,  built 
together  like  a  huge  stone  rabbit-warren,  to  keep  each  other 
from  falling  off;  westward  along  the  narrow  summit  I  groped 
my  way  darkly,  through  succeeding  tunnels  and  courts, —  de- 
cay and  abandonment  showing  themselves  in  the  ruinous  walls, 
the  shattered  doorways,  the  boarded  windows  and  the  mould- 
ering odours ;  till  finally  there  opened  out  a  tiny  piazza,  at 
the  very  apex,  between  the  church  on  one  hand  and  the  an- 
cient monastery  on  the  other.  The  former  was  simply  faced 
by  a  crumbling  stuccoed  porch,  upon  several  steps,  supported 
by  two  stone  columns.  I  entered  at  once,  to  find  myself  in  a 
low  arched  nave,  flanked  by  narrow  aisles,  with  its  walls  and 
vaulting  one  solid  mass  of  decadent,  gilded,  stucco  decoration. 


146  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

This  was  a  further  result  of  the  zeal  of  Fra  Aguggiari. 
The  church  really  dates  from  about  the  13th  century;  before 
which  there  was  a  prior  edifice,  probably  erected  in  the  days 
of  St.  Ambrose,  the  founder.  The  aisles  were  now  closed 
from  the  transept  by  altars,  over  which,  and  in  a  recess  of  the 
left  wall,  I  noticed  three  curious  plaster  groups  of  lifesize 
figures, —  those  in  the  recess,  glazed  but  somewhat  chipped, 
giving  a  really  beautiful  representation  of  the  baptism  of 
Christ.  The  high-altar  was  located  under  the  central  cupola 
of  the  transept,  in  which  were  dimly  visible  some  remnants 
of  cinquecento  frescoing.  The  dusk,  in  fact,  was  unusual, 
due  to  the  smallness  of  the  dingy  windows;  and  when  the 
sacristan,  in  response  to  my  request  to  be  shown  the  miracu- 
lous Madonna  for  which  the  shrine  was  built,  turned  on  a 
sudden  flood  of  electric  light  above  the  altar,  the  effect  for 
an  instant  was  fairly  startling.  There  leapt  from  obscurity 
into  dazzling  brilliance,  surrounded  by  an  oval  halo  of  incan- 
descent bulbs,  an  antique  wooden  figure  clad  in  a  gorgeous 
silken  dress,  glittering  with  costly  jewels  upon  its  bosom, 
neck,  hands,  and  painted  forehead,  and  ridiculously  over- 
laden with  scores  of  silver  hearts,  that  clung  to  every  fold 
of  the  garments. 

This,  then,  was  the  crude  occasion  of  so  much  fame,  so 
much  expenditure  of  time  and  money,  so  much  piety  and 
adoration,  through  half  a  thousand  years, —  this  rude  wooden 
image  from  the  hand  of  some  simple  carver  of  the  dark  ages, 
which  the  wily  monks  here  isolated  had  endowed  with  al- 
leged miraculous  powers,  in  order  to  bring  them  wealth  and 
station.  It  looked  to  be  a  work  of  the  13th  century,  though 
it  might  be  still  older;  standing  there  within  its  deep  niche, 
upon  the  altar-top,  the  mass  of  incongruous  finery  and  baubles 
prevented  any  clear  inspection.     Certainly  its  functions  had 


SARONNO  AND  VARESE  147 

been  well  performed,  and  those  sparkling  hearts  might  well 
be  true  offerings  of  grateful  devotees, —  for  countless  tales 
are  told  of  the  cures  wrought  by  their  implicit  faith. 

I  interviewed  the  delightful,  benevolent,  old  head-priest, 
in  his  living-room  far  below  the  choir,  hewn  out  of  the  cliff- 
side,  with  little  windows  looking  out  upon  the  plain;  and 
received  both  his  benediction  and  a  permission  to  visit  the 
ancient  crypt,  which  was  now  shut  up,  from  the  danger  of  its 
crumbling  state.  The  sacristan  led  me  to  it  through  dark 
stairways  and  corridors,  also  hewn  out  of  the  solid  rock, 
more  than  a  thousand  years  ago ;  and  ended  at  a  small  cave- 
like chamber,  lighted  only  by  the  candles  we  bore,  so  low 
that  my  head  knocked  against  the  roof.  The  rows  of  col- 
umns were  but  three  to  four  feet  in  height,  very  roughly 
cut,  with  capitals  of  the  crudest  sort,  bearing  out  the  belief 
that  they  were  set  up  in  the  7th  century ;  crumbling  with 
age,  they  no  longer  sufficed  to  support  the  floor  of  the  pres- 
ent choir  overhead,  which  was  now  shored  up  with  pieces 
of  timber.  In  one  corner  I  observed  the  only  remnants  of 
the  former  decoration,  a  few  lingering  frescoes  of  the  Giot- 
tesque  trecento  style,  remarkably  well  preserved :  a  Nativity, 
a  Christ  between  two  saints,  and  other  saintly  figures,  poor 
in  drawing  but  quaint  in  execution,  and  still  of  a  lively  col- 
ouring. 

On  emerging  to  the  open  air,  I  kept  on  shortly  to  the  west 
of  the  little  piazza,  descending  several  flights  of  steps,  and 
reached  the  summit  station  of  the  funicolare.  From  this  the 
whole  tremendous  flank  of  the  Monte  dei  Fiori  was  visible 
close  at  hand,  stony  and  precipitous,  scarred  by  the  workings 
for  its  new  cable  railway ;  and  directly  above  loomed  its 
forbidding  peak,  tipped  by  the  unfinished  building  of  its 
Grand  Hotel,  floating  there  amidst  the  clouds. —  In  a  few 


148  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

minutes  I  was  lowered  rapidly  to  the  base  of  the  mountain ; 
and  I  started  back  to  Varese  upon  the  electric  car,  feeling 
that  I  had  experienced  without  doubt  one  of  the  most  inter- 
esting excursions  in  all  northern  Italy. 


CHAPTER  V 

CASTIGLIONE  OLONA,  LEGNANO  AND  BUSTO  ARSIZIO 

"The  peasants  from  the  village  go 
To  work  among  the  maize ;  you  know, 
With  us  in  Lombardy,  they  bring 
Provisions  packed  on  mules,  a  string, 
With  little  bells  that  cheer  their  task, 
And  casks,  and  boughs  on  every  cask 
To  keep  the  sun's  heat  from  the  wine." 

Robert  Browning. 

The  morning  following  my  visit  to  the  Sacromonte  found 
me  descending  from  the  train  at  the  station  of  Venegone 
Superiore,  and  inquiring  for  a  vetturino.  In  this  search  I 
proved  quite  fortunate,  finding  a  peasant  with  a  clean  new 
rig,  a  good  horse,  an  amiable  disposition,  and  a  scale  of  rea- 
sonable prices, —  four  lire  only  to  Castiglione  and  back,  re- 
turning late  in  the  afternoon.  This  paragon,  however, 
seemed  to  have  no  name;  for  the  only  response  to  my  in- 
quiries was, — "  I  am  the  Vetturale  of  Castelnuovo;  and 
everybody  knows  me." 

The  country  cross-road  led  westward  between  untrimmed 
hedges,  thickly  growing  bushes,  and  rows  of  trees,  which 
afforded  intermittent  vistas  over  the  luxuriant  fields,  green 
with  new  crops,  interspersed  frequently  with  belts  of  wood- 
land. The  amount  of  growing  wood  was  surprising,  through 
all  this  region,  giving  it  an  appearance  more  Anglo-Saxon 
than  Lombard.  Houses  were  frequent,  also, —  well-built 
stuccoed  dwellings  as  a  rule,  betraying  the  careful  hand  of 
the  individual  proprietor;  and  we  passed  an  occasional  speci- 

149 


i5o  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

men  of  this  rare  class  of  peasants,  who  are  seldom  to  be  found 
farther  south.  "  The  capitalist  farmer  of  the  —  Lombard 
plain,  often  with  a  capital  of  from  £16  to  £20  per  acre,  [is] 
a  busy,  thrifty,  shrewd  man,  of  the  type  of  the  best  English 
farmer,  with  little  agricultural  theory  but  great  practical 
capacity ;  a  hard  employer, —  occasionally  well  educated,  but 
always  tied  to  his  isolated  life  and  narrow  sympathies  and  in- 
terests." x 

We  passed  also  a  group  of  peasant  girls  of  this  class, —  ten 
red-faced  lasses  packed  together  in  a  single  two-wheeled  cart, 
drawn  by  a  single  mule.  They  were  gaily  dressed,  with 
bright  bodices  and  fluttering  ribbons,  which  matched  their 
sparkling  eyes  and  comely,  laughing  faces.  Squeezed  upon 
the  floor  of  their  clumsy  vehicle,  with  rough-  but  well-shod 
feet  hanging  outward,  they  were  clearly  bound  upon  some 
errand  of  pleasure. 

In  a  half  an  hour  we  were  descending  the  steep  bank  of 
the  Olona  gorge,  which  here  appeared  to  have  a  depth  of 
fifty  or  sixty  yards  and  a  width  of  a  couple  of  hundred,  or 
more.  Near  the  bottom  of  the  long  descent,  we  were  already 
amidst  the  houses  of  the  village ;  into  one  of  which  upon  the 
right  side  the  driver  turned,  through  an  archway  leading  to 
its  courtyard.  It  was  the  little  "  Albergo  di  S.  Antonio," 
kept  by  the  young  Giovanni  Braga  and  his  wide-awake 
spouse;  but  though  small  and  crude,  it  proved  so  clean  and 
homelike,  with  such  well  kept  bedrooms  and  wholesome  fare, 
rendered  delectable  by  good  Piemonte  wine,  that  I  wished 
I  had  arranged  to  stay  a  night  or  two.  Two  or  three  days 
can  easily  be  given  to  Castiglione  by  the  art-lover;  and  the 
sojourn  in  such  primitive  conditions  of  long-ago  would  have 
a  charm  of  its  own.  In  the  long,  low,  heavy-beamed  wine- 
room,  smoked  by  untold  generations  of  lamps,  the  villagers 

1  King  and  Okey's  "  Italy  To-day." 


THE  TOWNS  OF  THE  OLONA  VALLEY       151 

gather  at  evening  to  gossip  and  sing ;  and  the  traveller  mounts 
to  his  chamber  in  mediaeval  fashion,  with  flickering  candle, 
up  the  unroofed  stairway  in  the  airy  court  and  around  the 
open  gallery  overhead. 

After  receiving  directions,  I  started  out  down  the  re- 
mainder of  the  sloping  street,  turned  to  the  right  at  its  bot- 
tom, and  soon  reached  the  town  piazza, —  a  large  irregular 
unpaved  space,  with  two  other  streets  opening  from  its  north- 
ern side.  At  the  western  angle  of  that  on  the  left  stood  one 
of  the  chief  objects  of  interest,  the  very  curious  little  church 
of  S.  Sepulcro;  it  was  a  cube-shaped,  stuccoed  structure, 
strangely  decorated  with  grey  limestone  carvings,  and  topped 
by  a  round,  plastered  drum  whose  far-projecting  eaves  were 
upheld  by  a  colonnade  of  slender  stone  shafts.  Fluted  Co- 
rinthian pilaster-strips  reached  from  ground  to  cornice,  three 
or  four  on  each  side;  the  windows  were  small,  square-headed, 
simply'  framed,  and  placed  two  on  each  side  at  a  height  of 
fully  fifteen  feet;  the  main  portal,  toward  the  piazza,  bore  a 
continuous  scroll  of  fine  arabesque  reliefs  on  jambs  and  lintel, 
with  a  delightful  frieze  of  festoons  supported  by  tiny  cherubs, 
and  a  pediment  containing  a  half-figure  of  God  the  Father, 
flanked  by  little  angels.  All  this  carving  was  excellent  work 
of  the  cinquecentOj  in  grey  sandstone  like  the  trimmings. 
But  on  each  hand  of  the  doorway  against  the  plaster  stood 
a  startling,  uncouth,  gigantic  figure  of  the  same  stone,  crudely 
executed, —  a  St.  Christopher  on  the  right,  leaning  upon  an 
enormous  knobby  club  like  a  Goliath,  shouldering  his  usual 
infant  with  a  look  that  suggested  he  was  taking  it  home  to 
eat, —  and  a  S.  Antonio  della  Campanella  on  the  left,  carry- 
ing a  heavy  cow-bell.  These  were  doubtless  coeval  with 
the  edifice;  but  beside  the  latter  stood  a  still  older  statue  of 
a  saint,  of  lifesize,  with  face  and  hands  crumbled  away. 

At  the  eastern  angle  of  the  right-hand  street  rose  another  in- 


152  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

teresting  object, —  the  old  Palazzo  Castiglione,  reared  by 
Cardinal  Branda  Castiglione  in  the  early  quattrocento,  whose 
stuccoed  facade  was  pierced  by  a  series  of  beautiful  gothic 
terracotta  window-frames,  now  mostly  built  up,  and  by  a 
larger  one  of  sandstone,  triple-arched  and  filled  with  stained 
glass,  in  the  right  wing.  From  the  centre  of  the  piazza  — 
which,  by  the  way,  bore  the  strange  name  of  Piazza  del  Padre 
Eterno  — on  facing  about  southward,  I  was  greeted  with  a 
view  of  the  eponymous,  historic  home  of  the  great  family  of 
Castiglione  (meaning  simply  "grand  castello"), —  from 
which  also  this  village  of  2,000  souls  had  received  its  appel- 
lation :  2  it  was  an  enormous  square  castle,  perched  high  above 
the  town,  upon  a  precipitous  elevation  projecting  from  the 
eastern  bank  of  the  dale.  It  was  remarkable  for  corner 
towers  of  a  colossal  size,  square  and  battlemented,  and 
appeared  to  be  in  excellent  preservation,  rising  without  outer 
walls  from  the  very  brink  of  the  cliffs.  This  fortified 
dwelling  was  first  raised  by  Count  Corrado  in  the  10th 
century,  was  demolished  by  the  Visconti  in  the  13th,  and 
rebuilt  by  Cardinal  Branda  in  the  early  15th.  Upon 
inquiry  I  learned  that  it  was  in  the  possession  of  its  ancient 
owners  no  longer,  but  in  that  of  a  prominent  Milanese  fam- 
ily,—  who  had  restored  it  from  a  ruinous  condition,  and  now 
regularly  occupied  it,  with  abundant  guests;  but  that  admis- 
sion to  sightseers  was  denied. 

Entering  the  church  of  S.  Sepolcro,  by  its  original  quaint 
wooden  doors,  I  found  altars  upon  the  right  and  rear  sides 
of  its  square  nave, —  the  former  adorned  with  a  quattrocento 

2  "  The  name  of  the  place  in  Roman  times  was  Castrum  Stili- 
conium,  and  owed  its  origin  to  the  Vandal  general,  Stilicho,  who 
fixed  his  camp  here  in  the  days  of  Theodoric.  Afterwards  it  was 
destroyed  by  Attila,  and  restored  by  Archbishop  Ariberto  of  Milan." 
— Julia  Cartwright's  "  Baldassare  Castiglione." 


THE  TOWNS  OF  THE  OLONA  VALLEY       153 

pala  of  Madonna  and  saints,  the  latter  situated  in  an  apsidal 
recess  containing  a  poor  cinquecento  fresco  of  the  Resurrec- 
tion. Around  the  walls  stood  a  half  dozen  painted  wooden 
statues  of  saints,  lifesize  and  very  old,  raised  four  feet  from 
the  floor.  The  grimy  plaster  in  its  crumbling  away  had 
disclosed  here  and  there  bits  of  the  original  surrounding  fres- 
coes. But  the  chief  object  was  a  renaissance  tomb  of  white 
plaster,  ensconced  in  a  niche  high  upon  the  left,  adorned  with 
fanciful  moulded  figures  and  reliefs  in  the  style  of  Amadeo; 
the  sarcophagus,  covered  with  convoluted  foliage  and  designs, 
was  faced  by  three  detached  half-figures,  of  the  Madonna 
and  two  saints,  and  its  gable  terminated  curiously  in  a  sort 
of  triple  candelabrum,  bearing  upon  its  tips  statuettes  of 
Christ  between  two  cherubs;  the  last  were  the  best  executed, 
but  none  of  the  figures  were  very  lifelike.  Four  coats  of 
arms  underneath  indicated  a  deceased  of  noble  lineage,  doubt- 
less of  the  Castiglione  family. 

Passing  over  to  the  palazzo,  which  appeared  deserted,  I 
finally  roused  a  peasant  caretaker  who  was  prevailed  upon 
to  show  the  interior.  This,  to  my  delight,  proved  to  be  con- 
served unaltered  in  its  early  Renaissance  condition, —  a  state 
which  one  finds  nowadays  only  in  some  such  occasional  rural 
mansion.  In  the  right  wing  of  the  piano  nobile,  reached  by 
a  stately  staircase,  stood  the  bedchamber  and  the  library  of 
Cardinal  Branda  Castiglione, —  the  favourite  of  Filippo  Ma- 
ria Visconti,  from  whom  he  obtained  riches,  and  permission  to 
rebuild  his  ancestral  castle ;  he  was  a  devoted  patron  of  the 
arts,  and  brought  Masolino  da  Panicale  here  from  Florence 
about  1428.  The  furnishings  of  these  rooms  still  remained 
unchanged  from  the  day  of  his  death.  Here  were  his  great 
canopied  bed,  his  silk-cushioned  armchair,  and  his  other  fur- 
niture of  exquisite  marquetry-work ;  the  walls  of  the  bed- 
room were  painted  with  black  fruit  trees  upon  a  red  ground, 


154  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

and  white  putti  at  intervals;  the  light  was  subdued  to  an 
ecclesiastical  crepuscule  by  window-panes  of  purple  and  or- 
ange; the  floor  was  of  fine  though  broken  mosaic.  The 
library  was  paved  with  grey  tiles,  roofed  with  heavy  beams, 
and  painted  with  queer  landscapes  of  town  and  country;  in 
its  farthest,  upper,  right-hand  corner  was  pointed  out  to  me 
a  pretty  female  head,  delicately  moulded,  which  according 
to  tradition  was  done  by  Masolino,  as  a  friendly  gift  to  his 
host  and  patron.3 

The  great  hall  of  the  palace  was  next  reached,  stretching 
along  the  rear  of  the  main  body,  over  the  courtyard, — 
called  "  La  Galleria "  because  of  its  rows  of  family  por- 
traits. Of  these  there  were  35  in  all,  going  back  500  years, 
including  the  cardinal  himself  in  brown  shades  on  black. 
Four  delightful  old  gothic  doorways  of  carved  oak  opened 
into  the  front  rooms.  At  the  end  wall  stood  the  chief 
artistic  object  of  the  mansion, —  a  splendid  quattrocento 
chimney-piece,  of  grey  cement  imitating  stone ;  it  was  sus- 
tained by  four  big  Atlantes,  and  bore  a  handsome  frieze  of 
Roman  arms  alternating  with  Hermes;  the  top  of  white 
plaster  was  a  modern  addition,  very  rich  in  designs.  An- 
other interesting  chimney  was  shown  me  before  departing, 
—  that  of  the  old  kitchen,  which  was  really  of  sandstone, 
finely  proportioned,  and  cut  with  ornate  consoles  supported 
by  slender  columns.  The  Renaissance  brick  ovens  and  the 
array  of  burnished  copper  utensils  were  a  sight  in  themselves, 
and  they  were  still  in  use  after  a  score  of  generations. 

Directly  opposite  the  palace  stood  another  building  be- 
longing to  the  same  family,  decorated  with  a  most  striking 

3  According  to  Julia  Cartwright,  in  her  life  of  Baldassare  Cas- 
tiglione, —  who  was  a  collateral  descendant  of  the  Cardinal  —  all 
of  these  frescoes  were  done  by  Masolino;  but  that  is  neither  borne 
out  by  tradition,  nor  by  their  unequivocal  poorness. 


THE  TOWNS  OF  THE  OLONA  VALLEY       155 

renaissance  stone  entrance-arch,  very  wide  and  richly  sculp- 
tured, resting  upon  square  panelled  pillars  with  foliated 
caps;  the  quoins  were  cut  with  a  profusion  of  grapevines, 
scrolls,  human  busts,  etc.,  and  other  scrolls  and  little  figures 
clambered  along  its  decaying  architrave. 

I  returned  to  the  inn  for  lunch;  then  started  out  again 
on  the  left-hand  street,  past  S.  Sepolcro, —  keeping  straight 
on,  up  an  isolated  hill  some  60  yards  in  height,  that  rose 
from  the  bank  of  the  river  just  north  of  the  town.  Halfway 
up,  an  old  schoolhouse  appeared  on  the  left,  upon  the  brink 
of  the  ravine  here  formed  by  the  stream,  bearing  on  its 
facade  a  fairly  well  preserved  quattrocento  fresco,  of  the 
Madonna  and  two  saints,  with  well  moulded,  graceful  forms 
and  faces, —  probably  another  relic  of  Masolino's  stay.  At 
the  top  of  the  height  there  loomed  through  the  trees  the 
lofty  brick  walls  enclosing  his  masterpieces:  here  was  the 
Collegiate  Church,  which  was  also  built  by  Cardinal  Branda 
Castiglione,  and  for  whose  decoration  he  engaged  the  Floren- 
tine artist.  I  found  it  facing  westward  upon  a  little  en- 
trance-court at  the  very  verge  of  the  wooded  chasm,  which 
it  overlooked ;  a  gothic  archway  admitted  me  to  this  pic- 
turesque, secluded  terrace,  where  the  only  sound  heard  was 
the  rushing  of  the  invisible  waters  300  feet  below. 

On  its  right  towered  the  red-brick  gothic  facade:  a  high 
gabled  nave,  with  lower  aisles,  embellished  with  a  handsome 
portal  and  rose-window  of  white  limestone, —  the  former 
recessed  with  fine  gothic  mouldings,  and  its  lunette  filled 
with  excellent  reliefs  bearing  the  date,  1428.  These  were 
the  symbols  of  the  four  Evangelists,  in  separate  compart- 
ments, and  above  them,  a  tableau  of  the  Madonna  enthroned 
between  two  bishops  and  three  friars.  The  small  lancet 
windows  at  the  sides  were  simple.  Gothic  arcaded  cornices 
of  terracotta  graced   the  eaves.     A  shapely  campanile  rose 


156  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

between  the  nave  and  right  transept,  in  several  brick  stages 
marked  by  similar  cornices,  to  a  belfry  of  single  pointed 
arches,  tipped  by  a  round,  slim,  stuccoed  spire.  At  the  left 
of  the  facade  two  round  arches  topped  by  gables  and  pinnacles 
opened  into  a  side  yard,  a  sort  of  court  between  the  church 
and  the  other  collegiate  buildings,  which  were  long,  two- 
storied  structures  of  stucco. 

This,  then,  was  the  place  that  has  emerged  from  its  long 
obscurity  to  be  one  of  the  world's  most  hallowed  shrines 
of  art;  it  was  here,  in  these  buildings  still  so  fresh-looking, 
so  prefectly  preserved  —  as  is  the  way  of  red  brick  —  that 
Tommaso  di  Panicale,  called  Masolino,  hid  away  from  the 
world  that  marvellous  series  of  frescoes,  which  were  destined 
to  reappear  centuries  later,  to  re-establish  his  fame  as  the 
real  founder  of  Tuscan  painting, —  to  reveal  him  as  the  true 
pioneer  of  the  quattrocento,  the  initiator  of  the  perfected 
art,  the  first  to  break  away  from  the  traditions  and  degen- 
erated mannerisms  of  the  Giottesque  school,  and  depict  real, 
tangible,  individual  human  beings,  with  significance  and  ex- 
pression. The  truth  was  long  suspected  by  Florence;  but 
as  she  could  lay  hold  upon  no  authentic  works  of  Masolino 
except  the  few  questionable  figures  in  the  Brancacci  Chapel 
—  the  Adam  and  Eve,  and  the  St.  Peter  preaching  —  the 
mantle  that  Masolino  should  have  worn  was  placed  upon 
the  shoulders  of  his  pupil  Masaccio,  whose  full  powers  were 
there  displayed.  The  mighty  step  forward  which  Masolino 
had  made,  became  but  a  myth,  with  naught  sufficient  to  sup- 
port it;  and  so  it  was  that  his  disciple's  work  became  the 
admiration,  the  wonder,  and  the  teacher  of  succeeding  gen- 
erations. 

It  was  in  the  same  year  that  Masaccio  began  his  labours 
in  the  Brancacci,  that  Masolino  was  engaged,  in  this  remote 
spot,   in  preserving  for  posterity  that  record  of  his  genius 


THE  TOWNS  OF  THE  OLONA  VALLEY       157 

which  proves  it  to  have  been  his  hand  that  made  the  revolu- 
tion. For  Masolino  was  18  years  older  than  his  pupil,  hav- 
ing been  born  in  1383,  and  must  therefore  have  developed 
his  powers  that  much  earlier.  When  we  think  of  the  art- 
conditions  surrounding  his  youth,  the  wonder  of  his  accom- 
plishment grows  ever  upon  us :  the  decadence  of  the  Giot- 
tesque  style  into  graceless,  unreal  mannerisms, —  as  man- 
ifested by  Agnolo  Gaddi,  then  the  Florentine  leader,  and 
continued  by  the  Siennese,  into  perfectly  wooden  images;  no 
paintings  to  learn  or  copy  from,  except  their  unnatural  pro- 
ductions; no  master  to  convey  the  rudiments  of  a  proper 
method  of  representation.  But  if  painting  had  languished, 
sculpture  had  not,  and  was  even  then  making  that  extraor- 
dinary bound,  from  which  we  date  the  true  opening  of  the 
Renaissance:  in  1402  Lorenzo  Ghiberti  exposed  to  an 
astounded  public  his  model  for  the  northern  doors  of  the 
Baptistery.  The  effect  upon  Masolino,  at  his  impressionable 
age,  was  immediate  and  profound,  and  can  be  clearly  seen 
in  his  work;  he  proceeded  to  express  in  colours  what  Ghi- 
berti had  modelled.  A  few  years  later  he  received  the 
influence  of  another  sculptor,  his  confrere,  the  young  Dona- 
tello,  whose  slender  grace  of  figure  was  added  to  the  painter's 
accomplishments. 

Thus  Masolino  went  ahead  upon  his  own  new  line,  with 
none  .of  his  own  craft  to  instruct  or  modify  him, —  with  the 
single  exception  of  Fra  Angelico  still  later,  by  whose  method 
he  was  thenceforth  influenced  in  his  colouring,  and  in  his 
depiction  of  angelic  beings.  But  the  latter  was  a  small  mat- 
ter, in  Masolino's  choice  of  subjects;  in  all  the  great  essen- 
tials of  his  development  he  must  have  drawn  upon  himself 
alone,  upon  his  own  intuitive  genius,  given  its  impulse  by 
the  new  sculpture.  He  rediscovered  the  secret  of  tactile 
value,  in  a  high  degree;  he  boldly  launched  out  into  the  un- 


158  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

charted  sea  of  realism, —  into  the  natural  depiction  of  drap- 
ery, form,  and  perspective ;  he  endowed  his  personages 
with  individuality,  dignity,  and  significance  of  gesture  and 
expression ;  he  became  student  and  pioneer  in  the  portrayal 
of  the  nude  human  figure;  he  invented  a  wonderful  means 
of  flesh-moulding  and  colouring;  he  learned  the  method  of 
striking  yet  realistic  composition,  with  powerful  free  spaces, 
effective  grouping,  and  concentration  on  the  principal  fig- 
ures; he  developed  easy,  dignified  movement,  and  a  high 
power  of  dramatic  expression.  His  figures  in  the  Brancacci 
reveal  but  few  of  these  wonderful  successes,  but  they  are 
all  demonstrated  here  at  Castiglione. 

A  great  part  of  the  praises  that  have  been  showered  upon 
Masaccio's  deeds  belong  therefore  to  Masolino,  and  these 
collegiate  buildings  must  receive  the  priority  so  long  usurped 
by  the  chapel.  Much  of  the  old  laudation  can  even  be 
transferred  word  by  word :  it  is  Masolino's  work  that  should 
be  "  usually  spoken  of  as  the  earliest  specimens  of  the 
painting  of  the  (high)  Renaissance. — This  cycle  of  pictures 
may  be  regarded  as  a  programme  of  the  earlier  art  of  the 
Renaissance,  the  importance  of  which  it  served  to  maintain, 
even  during  the  age  of  Raphael.  Here  the  beauty  of  the 
nude  was  first  revealed,  and  here  a  calm  dignity  was  for 
the  first  time  imparted  to  the  individual  figures,  as  well 
as  to  the  general  arrangement;  and  the  transformation  of 
a  group  of  indifferent  spectators  in  the  composition,  into  a 
sympathising  choir,  forming  as  it  were  a  frame  to  the  prin- 
cipal actors  in  the  scene,  was  first  successfully  effected."  4 

Entering  the  church,  I  saw  a  dusky  nave  of  gothic  vault- 
ing, divided  into  groined  bays,  whose  cells  were  painted  in 
the  early  quattrocento  manner,  with  medallions  and  de- 
signs ;  its  walls  were  upheld  by  round  stone  pillars  with  vile, 

4  Prof.  Anton   Springer,  on  Masaccio  and  the  Brancacci  Chapel. 


THE  TOWNS  OF  THE  OLONA  VALLEY       159 

squat  capitals  of  gilded  leaves;  and  it  was  flanked  by  low 
aisles  without  altars  or  chapels,  pierced  by  frequent  lancet 
windows.  The  choir  projected  forward  between  the  last 
two  pillars  on  each  side,  to  a  voluptuous  railing  of  black 
and  reddish  brown  marbles,  leaving  space  behind  the  baroque 
high-altar  for  a  confined,  apsidal  retrochoir,  which  was 
covered  with  old  frescoes. 

These  were  Masolino's  first  productions  here;  but  alas, — 
on  approaching  near  I  found  them  to  be  mostly  ruined. 
On  the  apse-walls  beside  the  windows,  once  adorned  with 
scenes  from  the  life  of  St.  Stephen,  there  now  remained  de- 
cipherable but  three  fragmentary  tableaux;  in  two  of  which 
the  saint  could  be  dimly  discerned  as  standing  before  some 
judge  or  monarch,  surrounded  by  many  persons,  and  in 
the  third  as  grouped  with  several  others  in  a  smaller  chamber. 
All  these  figures  still  visible,  however,  were  finely  modelled, 
lifelike  and  vigorous,  with  splendidly  poised  heads  and 
strong,  individualised,  expressive  features.  The  ceiling  was 
better  preserved:  the  five  triangular  divisions  of  the  groined 
vaulting  held  each  a  picture  from  the  life  of  the  Virgin, 
clearly  discernible  in  its  composition  and  outlines.  They 
represented,  from  left  to  right,  the  Adoration  of  the  Magi, 
Annunciation,  Coronation  of  the  Virgin,  her  Marriage,  and 
the  Birth  of  Christ;  but  realism  had  practically  been  ban- 
ished from  every  one  by  its  narrow,  elongated  space.  The 
damage  here,  too,  had  been  so  great,  that  in  the  Marriage 
alone  could  the  master's  qualities  be  made  out;  its  figures 
happened  to  have  escaped  the  general  destruction  sufficiently 
to  show  their  remarkable  moulding,  naturalness,  and  sense 
of  power;  they  were  exquisitely  draped,  and  graceful  both 
in  shape  and  pose,  while  their  faces  were  full  of  life  and 
expression.  One  has  only  to  compare  them  for  an  instant 
with   the  productions  of   Giottino  or  the   Gaddi   to   realise 


160  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

their  worth  and  historical  importance.  The  angel  of  the 
Annunciation  still  shone  with  the  loveliness  of  Angelico,  and 
the  forms  of  the  three  Magi  were  fortunately  distinct  with 
a  pleasing  reality.  The  aged  Cardinal  Branda  himself  was 
visible  in  the  Nativity,  kneeling  beside  the  manger. 

I  was  not  disturbed  by  all  this  ruin,  because  the  principal 
series  of  Masolino's  frescoes  remained  to  be  seen  in  the 
baptistery,  where  they  have  been  fortunately  preserved  by  a 
coat  of  whitewash,  lately  removed.  But  there  were  two 
pieces  of  sculpture  in  this  retrochoir  worthy  of  notice:  a 
delightful  stucco  tabernacle  for  the  Host,  of  flamboyant 
gothic  design,  holding  in  its  gable  a  couple  of  kneeling 
Luinesque  angels  of  much  charm;  and  the  tomb  of  Cardinal 
Branda  Castiglione,  reposing  in  an  open  archway  of  the 
left  wall,  between  choir  and  aisle.  The  latter  was  executed 
by  Leonardus  Griffus  after  the  prelate's  death,  in  1443,  and 
beautifully  accords  with  his  love  of  art.  His  lifesize  figure 
reclines  in  the  accepted  attitude  on  the  top  of  the  sarcophagus ; 
which  is  decorated  by  two  little  saints  in  niches,  one  above 
the  other,  at  each  angle,  by  a  couple  of  striking  Franciscan 
saints  beside  a  crucifix  at  one  end,  and  the  forms  of  Sts. 
Stephen  and  Lawrence  upon  the  other;  the  long  inscriptions 
upon  the  sides  occupy  scrolls  upheld  by  pretty  angels  and 
cherubs;  and  the  sarcophagus  is  supported  by  four  larger 
crowned  saints  of  the  gentler  sex.  It  is  carved  from  the 
usual  grey  sandstone  of  the  district,  and  is  a  fine  sample  of 
the  best  Renaissance  work. 

In  the  adjacent  small  chapel  filling  the  end  of  the  left 
aisle  I  observed  a  quaint  gothic  ancona  of  painted  wood,  or 
stucco,  in  three  divisions,  containing  figures  of  the  Madonna 
and  saints,  surmounted  by  half-figures  and  statuettes;  and 
the  corresponding  chapel  at  the  end  of  the  right  aisle  held 
one  still  quainter  and   older,  of  six  compartments,  with  a 


THE  TOWNS  OF  THE  OLONA  VALLEY       161 

Christ  in  the  upper  centre,  and  two  or  three  saints  in  each 
of  the  other  divisions.  Adjacent  to  the  latter  was  the 
sacristy,  which  a  solitary  aged  woman  advanced  to  open 
for  me.  Here  I  was  surprised  by  a  considerable  show  of 
old  churchly  vestments,  silver  communion  cups  artistically 
decorated,  illustrated  choir  books,  renaissance  tapestries  and 
embroideries,  etc.,  all  enclosed  in  a  large  glass  cabinet. 
Among  these  things  were  a  handsome  gilded  cross,  a  richly 
relieved  ivory  coffer,  and,  chief  of  them  all,  a  little  unframed 
panel  of  the  Annunciation,  which  was  executed  by  Masolino 
in  his  leisure  moments.  Such  being  the  subject,  the  influ- 
ence of  Fra  Angelico  shone  predominant:  the  delicate,  charm- 
ing Virgin,  seated  to  right  under  an  arcade,  humble  and 
receptive,  and  the  brilliant  angel  appearing  to  left,  with 
gilded  wings  and  halo,  might  be  taken  directly  from  77 
Beato's  wonderful  Annunciation  in  the  Baptistery  of  Cor- 
tona. —  From  the  small  barred  window  here  there  opened 
a  pleasing  vista  of  the  brown-tiled  roofs  in  the  vale  below, 
extending  away  down  to  the  imposing,  towered  castle  on  its 
hill. 

My  conductor  now  led  me  through  a  doorway  in  the  left 
aisle,  across  the  treeless  court,  to  a  little  building  in  its 
farther  corner;  in  this  simple  structure, —  covered  with  moul- 
dering stucco,  but  a  single  story  in  height,  and  looking, 
under  its  front  shed,  like  a  dingy  cow-stable, —  had  been 
hidden  the  priceless  secret  of  the  centuries.  For  in  Cardinal 
Branda's  day  it  had  been  used  as  a  baptistery.  Over  the 
plain  doorway  appeared  a  hint  of  the  treasures  within, — 
the  fragmentary  heads  and  hands  of  a  Madonna  and  an- 
nounciag  angel;  but  such  exquisite  heads!  —  dainty,  refined, 
expressive,  lovely, —  they  bore  the  clear  stamp  of  Maso- 
lino. We  entered ;  —  and  from  every  wall  and  ceiling  of 
the   two   little   vaulted   chambers,    divided   only   by   a   wide 


1 62  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

gothic  archway,  there  burst  upon  my  eyes  a  glistening  flood 
of  tenderest  colours,  radiating  from  countless  beautiful  hu- 
man figures  in  the  costumes  of  long-ago,  which  were  gathered 
in  groups  or  assemblages,  through  continuous  imposing  land- 
scapes of  mountains  and  valleys,  and  as  angelic  choirs  in  the 
blue  vaults  of  heaven. 

Every  foot  of  space  had  been  covered  with  them,  and 
glittered  once  with  an  effulgence  of  hues  infinitely  sur- 
passing the  present,  when  their  dazzling  beauty  must  have 
been  something  quite  beyond  our  prosaic  conceptions;  every 
bit  of  their  vivid  glory  had  later  on  been  covered  with  white- 
wash, in  a  barbarism  that  is  likewise  inconceivable,  but  which 
we  must  thank  for  their  preservation.  Its  removal,  however, 
could  not  restore  their  pristine  brilliancy,  and  left  perforce 
many  a  vestment,  not  only  untinted,  but  merely  a  scraped 
white  outline.  Still,  the  general  effect  remains  astonish- 
ingly bright,  the  separate  tableaux  being  clear  in  all  but  a 
few  details  of  garment  or  background ;  and  the  great  ac- 
complishments of  Masolino  are  set  forth  irrefutably,  for  all 
time.  The  antique  font  is  left  in  the  centre  of  the  first  com- 
partment, but  the  altar  has  been  long  stripped  from  the  plat- 
form of  the  second,  and  the  place  is  now  to  be  a  national 
monument.  The  light  enters  from  two  small  gothic  win- 
dows, one  in  the  left,  and  the  other  in  the  rear  wall. 

My  special  attention  was  first  drawn  to  the  magnificent 
tableau  occupying  the  whole  of  the  right  wall  in  the  outer 
room,  which  was  splendidly  preserved,  and  so  freely  spaced 
that  its  two  groups  of  figures,  although  lifesize,  were  small  in 
comparison  with  the  tremendous,  glowering  background  of 
craggy  mountain-sides;  to  the  foot  of  their  slopes  extended 
a  stately  perspective  of  two  vaulted  colonnades,  crowned  by 
classic  loggias;  and  at  the  front  of  these  were  being  enacted 
two  tense  dramatic  scenes,   whose   grimness  was  finely  ac- 


THE  TOWNS  OF  THE  OLONA  VALLEY       163 

centuated  by  the  bare,  dark  summits  looming  overhead. 
On  the  left  was  King  Herod  seated  at  the  banquet-table, 
with  his  daughter  approaching  to  demand  the  life  of  the 
Baptist;  on  the  right  Salome  was  placing  the  head  in  her 
mother's  lap,  while  the  handmaidens  drew  back  in  horror. 
Here  was  wonderful  composition.  The  tragedy  of  the 
theme  was  well  carried  out  by  the  few,  lifelike  actors,  who 
were  so  tangible  and  real,  so  vivid  in  their  individualities 
and  expressions,  so  significant  in  their  postures,  that  the 
mind  was  not  at  all  distracted  by  the  men's  quattrocento 
dress.  Everywhere  were  evident  the  keen  touches  of  the 
master's  genius:  Herod  and  his  counsellors  were  genuine, 
puffy,  discursive  old  men,  of  intelligence  and  high  position, — 
the  white-haired  priest  seated  next  the  king  being  Cardinal 
Branda  himself,  now  over  80  years  of  age ;  the  cold,  de- 
termined character  of  Herodias  shone  from  her  middle- 
aged  countenance,  with  its  carefully  tended,  lingering  come- 
liness; the  unlined,  careless  features  of  the  tire-girls  were 
alight  with  real  fear  and  dismay;  the  handsome  faces  of 
the  young  courtiers  reflected  their  levity,  and  greater  by  the 
contrast  appeared  the  proud,  passionate,  but  lovely  face  of 
Salome,  whose  compressed,  down-drawn  lips  and  fixed  eyes 
betrayed   the  storm  within  her. 

What  a  marvellous  stride  forward  from  the  unreal  images 
of  the  Giottesque  school  had  been  achieved  by  Masolino  in 
figures  such  as  these!  All  their  details  showed  what  a 
power  of  realistic  execution  he  had  developed  from  within 
himself:  not  only  were  the  solidity,  the  tactile  values, 
rendered  tangible  by  indiscernible  shadings,  the  costumes 
and  draperies  fitted  with  natural  folds  that  revealed  the 
firm  limbs  beneath,  and  the  different  parts  of  the  human 
body  justly  proportioned  and  attached;  but,  beyond  all  these 
was    the    truly    marvellous    quality   of    the    fleshwork, —  in 


164  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

moulding,  consistency,  delicacy,  softness,  and  a  colouring 
exquisite  beyond  compare.  Of  all  Masolino's  accomplish- 
ments this  last  is  both  unique  and  supreme;  the  first  to 
strike  the  delighted  eye  in  looking  at  his  work,  and  the  last 
to  linger  in  the  mind,  as  a  happy  memory;  not  only  an  in- 
finite advance  over  the  productions  of  all  preceding  and 
coexisting  artists,  but  a  creation  that  in  my  judgment  has 
never  since  been  surpassed.  The  tinting  of  the  skin,  in 
the  females  and  the  young  men,  was  of  a  most  delicious 
pink,  imperceptibly  graduated,  that  can  be  likened  only  to  a 
peach-blow  vase,  or  a  rose-petal  in  its  first  bloom, —  the 
pink  that  we  see  sometimes  in  the  faint  flush  of  a  perfect 
complexion  of  sixteen  years;  it  was  not  laid  upon  the  cuticle, 
but  seemed  to  permeate  the  whole  tegument  evenly,  from 
within ;  it  was  not  a  blush,  but  the  gentle  glow  of  perfect 
health  in  a  youthful  body.  This  exquisite  hue,  which  has 
emerged  from  the  whitewash  in  such  remarkable  preserva- 
tion, was  complemented  by  the  pliable  texture  of  the  skin, 
its  evident  malleability  and  firmness  conjoined,  its  perfect 
contours,  its  transparent  delicacy  and  fairness ;  while  its 
shapely  moulding  was  done  in  an  indefinable  manner,  with- 
out apparent  shading,  that  yet  gave  an  assured  effect  of 
corporality. 

The  tender  cheeks  and  long,  slender  necks  of  the  women 
were  therefore  of  a  loveliness  most  singular  and  unforgettable ; 
and  the  young  men,  with  their  curling  fair  hair,  were  almost 
equally  attractive.  It  was  the  same  in  the  other  pictures: 
all  over  the  chambers  shone  these  beautiful,  unsmiling,  softly 
erubescent  faces.  But  on  the  same  degree  were  the  hands 
also ;  in  fact  —  and  I  say  it  without  being  carried  away 
by  enthusiasm  —  I  have  never  seen  any  hands  quite  so  grace- 
ful and  expressive  as  the  major  part  of  these.  Of  the  same 
excellence   in   their   fleshwork,  perfectly  modelled   and   life- 


THE  TOWNS  OF  THE  OLONA  VALLEY       165 

like,  they  were  at  once  elegant  in  shape,  alluring  in  pose,  and 
of  an  astonishing  eloquence  in  gesture;  their  movements 
were  neither  violent  nor  theatric,  but  every  graceful  finger 
seemed  replete  with  meaning.  Especially  fine  were  the  three 
pairs  of  lovely  hands  in  the  group  of  Herodias,  Salome  and 
the  startled   handmaiden. 

In  the  same  picture  was  seen  also  the  final  act  of  the 
Baptist's  story, —  the  entombment  of  his  mutilated  body,  far 
up  on  the  mountain-side  in  rear;  there  a  few  little  figures 
were  to  be  espied,  laying  the  corpse  in  a  sarcophagus,  while 
one  of  them  knelt  beside  it  in  tears.  This  was,  then,  the 
last  tableau  of  the  whole  series,  which  together  represented 
the  principal  events  of  St.  John's  life, —  commencing  with 
the  writing  of  his  name  by  Joachim,  on  the  left  wall  of  the 
outer  room.  But  upon  the  left  and  entrance  walls  the 
painting  had  not  been  successfully  restored,  as  elsewhere, — 
fortunately  but  little  to  be  noticed,  on  account  of  the  presence 
of  the  doorway  and  window.  To  left  of  the  doorway  there 
was  dimly  visible  a  group  of  grave  men  standing,  of  whom 
but  two  or  three  remained  distinct;  but  the  last  two  heads 
upon  the  left  were  as  dignified,  strong,  and  full  of  character 
as  any  of  the  Brancacci  Chapel, —  perhaps  more  so.  To 
right  of  the  doorway  there  could  be  made  out  what  was 
evidently  a  Visitation, —  with  one  very  lovely  young  female 
head  just  peeping  from  the  submerged  spectators.  Upon 
the  vaulting  lingered  the  four  Evangelists,  done  in  a  more 
careless  manner.  On  the  left  wall  naught  remained  but 
the  figures  of  Joachim,  his  wife,  and  the  infant  St.  John, 
with  the  perspective  of  a  long,  vaulted  hall  upheld  by  col- 
umns; the  old  man,  with  a  sweeping  white  beard,  was 
writing  the  chosen  name  upon  a  table,  and  his  wife  stood 
by,  holding  the  child.  This  scene  must  once  have  been  very 
effective. 


1 66  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

The  wide  pointed  archway  dividing  the  rooms  had  not 
been  omitted  from  Masolino's  labours:  on  its  front  side,  to 
right,  there  appeared  a  soldier  slaying  a  man  lying  at  his 
feet,  probably  intended  for  the  execution  of  the  Baptist, — 
a  striking  picture,  in  both  senses;  above  the  arch  were  two 
flying  angels,  holding  a  scroll  over  the  keystone;  upon  the 
left, —  all  had  been  destroyed.  The  broad  soffit  was  covered 
with  six  seated  figures  of  saints,  in  separate  compartments, 
—  aged,  snowy-bearded  men,  engaged  in  reading  or  writing ; 
the  two  lowest  upon  the  left  side  were  gone,  the  others  still 
clear  and  realistic, —  especially  the  St.  Ambrose  and  St. 
Jerome,  with  their  severe,  ascetic  faces,  expressive  of  deep  and 
holy  thought;  which  proved  the  master  to  have  been  as 
expert  in  the  portrayal  of  such  characteristics  as  he  was  in 
youthful  comeliness. 

Coming  to  the  rear  chamber, —  which  was  considerably 
smaller  than  the  outer,  having  been  designed  simply  for  the 
altar  upon  its  dais  —  I  observed  to  left  a  scene  of  the 
Baptist  preaching  to  a  crowd  of  people,  now  mostly  de- 
stroyed ;  but  the  other  walls  were  resplendent  with  four 
grand  tableaux,  finely  preserved,  and  the  vaulting  was  radiant 
with  celestial  beings.  Here  was  the  acme  of  Masolino's 
labours.  On  the  right  was  a  daring  theme,  ingeniously 
conceived  and  effectively  carried  out, —  St.  John  in  prison, 
seen  only  through  the  outer  bars  of  his  cell,  guarded  by 
a  soldier.  From  that  inner  duskiness  stood  forth  his  care- 
worn face  and  attenuated,  kneeling  form,  as  he  raised  his 
eyes  heavenward  in  anguished  prayer;  his  sufferings,  his 
want,  his  enthusiastic  faith,  his  devotion  of  self,  were  all 
stamped  upon  that  meagre,  holy  countenance,  and  cleverly 
accentuated  by  the  gloom  and  the  grating.  Adjacent  on 
the  rear  wall,  below,  he  had  been  brought  up  from  his  prison 
into  the  presence  of  the  King  and  Queen,  and  was  delivering 


THE  TOWNS  OF  THE  OLONA  VALLEY       167 

to  Herod  that  awful  admonition  for  his  wickedness;  its 
severity  was  evident  in  the  saint's  glowing  eye,  in  his  out- 
stretched denunciatory  finger,  and  in  the  clearly  alarmed 
soldier  who  clung  to  him  behind,  fearful  of  danger  to  the 
sovereign  and  anxious  to  drag  back  the  prisoner  to  his  cell. 
This  jailor's  face  is  one  of  the  most  expressive  of  the  whole 
series. 

As  for  the  other  three  faces,  their  perfect  identity  with 
those  of  the  same  characters  in  the  subsequent  scenes  well 
shows  Masolino's  minute  care ;  and  that  of  Herodias  here, 
still  cold  and  disdainful,  is  the  most  striking  of  the  series  in  its 
wondrous  modelling  and  delicate  skin.  Unmistakably  belong- 
ing to  a  middle-aged  woman,  and  of  irregular  features,  yet 
it  is  made  surpassingly  lovely,  and  keenly  alive  with  intelli- 
gence; her  agitation  is  shown  in  the  beautiful  hand,  which 
is  slightly  lifted  in  dismay.  She  is  indescribably  charming,  in 
spite  of  the  proud,  selfish  character  marked  in  the  mouth  and 
eye.  In  effective  contrast  with  her  elegance  stands  the 
rough,  emaciated  figure  of  the  saint,  his  gaunt  limbs  and 
naked  feet  protruding  from  the  single,  dilapidated  garment, 
his  fanatical  expression  deepened  by  the  long,  untrimmed, 
black  hair  and  beard.     Yet  this  is  in  no  way  overdrawn. 

He  appears  again,  to  still  better  effect,  in  the  scene  upon 
the  opposite  side  of  the  rear  window,  where  he  is  identical 
in  form,  but  clad  in  a  dark  cloak  and  undyed  goatskin  shirt; 
listening  to  his  words  is  a  gathering  of  country  folk,  in- 
cluding Christ  and  several  of  the  Apostles, —  the  head  of 
the  Saviour  being  distinguished  by  its  pure,  serene,  thoughtful 
expression.  This  was  evidently  the  meeting  of  Jesus  and 
St.  John.  The  following,  supreme  scene  of  the  latter's  life 
is  placed  just  above,  filling  the  whole  upper  half  of  the 
arched  back  wall, —  the  baptism  of  the  Saviour.  Located 
thus  appropriately,  above  the  altar,  where  it  commands  all 


1 68  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

of  the  enclosure,  it  is  also  the  chef  d'ceuvre  of  the  series. 
Here  Masolino  has  excelled  himself.  Its  tremendous  land- 
scape of  rugged  mountains,  stretching  afar  in  imposing,  par- 
allel chains,  that  enclose  a  weird  and  barren-looking  valley, 
—  forms  an  effective  setting  for  the  great  action  in  the 
foreground,  accentuating  its  sublimity,  and  drawing  at  once 
the  attention  of  whosoever  enters  the  chapel. 

Down  the  middle  of  the  strange  valley  flows  a  winding 
stream,  in  whose  rippling  water,  at  the  centre  of  the  fore- 
ground, stands  the  comely  figure  of  the  Christ,  naked  but 
for  the  loin-cloth,  submerged  as  far  as  the  knees;  His  head 
is  slightly  bent,  His  eyes  down-cast,  His  hands  somewhat 
raised  in  an  unconscious  attitude  of  emotion,  as  St.  John 
pours  the  cupful  of  blessed  liquid  upon  His  crown.  The 
latter  kneels  upon  the  right-hand  bank,  a  little  raised, —  the 
same,  gaunt,  skin-clad  devotee, —  stretching  out  one  arm  to 
perform  the  ceremony.  Behind  him  four  men  are  removing 
their  garments,  evidently  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  the 
same  rite, — •  probably  intended  to  represent  disciples,  for 
two  have  heads  identical  with  apostles  in  the  last  mentioned 
tableau ;  the  other  two  have  entirely  undressed,  one  facing 
the  spectator  and  the  second  showing  his  back.  Thus  did 
Masolino  effect  a  natural  demonstration  of  his  study  of  the 
nude;  and  these  results  are  marvellous,  standing  forth  pre- 
dominant in  the  picture.  The  remaining  figures,  to  the  left 
of  the  Christ,  consist  of  three  delightful  young  angels,  hold- 
ing His  garments,  clad  in  plain  dark  robes  but  with  lovely 
heads. 

Here  again  is  magnificent  composition:  the  grand  back- 
ground with  its  far  perspective,  the  free  spacing,  the  natural 
but  balanced  grouping  centering  in  the  Saviour,  the  dramatic 
significance  of  disposition  and  gesture,  all  concentrate  the 
attention  upon  the  supreme  ceremony.     And  there  one  sees 


THE  TOWNS  OF  THE  OLONA  VALLEY       169 

a  form  of  unsurpassed  shapeliness,  perfect  in  proportions,  stal- 
wart yet  fair,  and  of  undeniable  materiality  and  firmness  of 
flesh,  which  have  been  rendered  with  consummate  skill;  in 
general  poise,  and  in  the  shape  and  gesture  of  the  hands,  it  is 
graceful  beyond  expression;  so  that  when  one  remembers  the 
inability  of  Masolino's  predecessors  to  portray  the  nude  at  all, 
or  even  properly  to  indicate  a  body  within  a  garment,  when 
he  thinks  of  their  ignorance  of  the  proportions  and  articula- 
tions of  the  human  frame, —  he  gazes  in  amazement  at  this 
beautiful  Christ,  wondering  at  the  genius  that  within  one 
lifetime  had  made  such  a  giant  evolution. 

This  first  true  exposition  of  the  human  body  is  completed 
by  the  naked  figures  on  the  right, —  figures  with  more  of  virile 
power  and  firmness  and  less  of  grace,  but  of  astonishing 
realism  in  every  limb  and  line;  that  bared  back  must  be 
said  to  be  perfect, —  not  a  muscle  omitted  or  misplaced.  I 
can  think  of  nothing  that  was  done  to  equal  these  forms  for 
over  half  a  century  thereafter, —  nor  until  Signorelli's  work 
at  Orvieto,  about  1500.  And  what  is  it  that  they  remind 
us  of  so  strongly, —  these  stalwart  men  undressing  by  a 
stream?  They  were  the  first,  and  real,  precursors  of  Michael 
Angelo's  great  cartoon  of  the  Bathing  Soldiers  surprised  by 
the  Enemy,  which  was  designed  for  Florence's  Palazzo  Vec- 
chio  nearly  a  century  later. 

Upon  the  vaulting  of  the  rear  chamber,  finally,  I  inspected 
with  much  pleasure  the  composition  of  the  Eternal  Father  sur- 
rounded by  angels,  in  Masolino's  entirely  different  vein.  He 
was  indeed  versatile.  This  was  a  work  entirely  decorative, 
with  an  eye  to  beauty  alone;  and  so  he  abandoned  realism 
for  the  charming  forms  and  hues  of  the  Angelico  manner. 
In  the  azure  heaven  sparkling  with  golden  stars  appeared 
the  half-figure  of  the  Almighty,  within  a  black  medallion ; 
roundabout  fluttered  nine  angels,  emerging  from  little  clouds, 


170  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

clad  in  flowing  robes  finely  draped  and  of  the  tenderest 
bright  tints;  the  shining  wings  were  small,  the  hair  golden 
and  fluffy,  and  the  sweetly  rounded,  roseate  young  faces 
wrere  all  directed  toward  the  Father.  The  very  simplicity 
of  the  composition,  its  freedom  from  numbers,  background 
and  accessories,  augmented  its  loveliness  of  form,  and  colour. 

Italy  has  produced  an  elaborate  quarto  volume,  with  fifty 
full-page  photogravure  plates,  upon  the  rare  artistic  treasures 
of  this  little  town:  it  is  entitled,  "  II  Borgo  di  Castiglione 
Olona,"  and  is  written  by  the  talented  Dr.  Diego  Sant' 
Ambrogio.5  Upon  my  return  to  the  inn  I  found  that  the 
worthy  Braga's  were  in  possession  of  a  copy,  which  they 
are  accustomed  to  allow  visitors  to  examine,  though  it  is 
too  heavy  and  valuable  to  be  carried  about. —  By  5  o'clock 
I  was  on  my  way  back  to  the  railroad;  and  as  we  neared 
the  brow  of  the  long  ascent  from  the  vale,  my  last  look 
at  the  secluded  village,  tucked  away  down  there  for  so  many 
centuries,  between  its  castle-hill  at  one  end  and  its  collegiate- 
hill  at  the  other,  was  not  unaccompanied  by  emotion:  for  it 
had  this  day  shown  me  beauties  that  I  should  never  again 
find  elsewhere, —  the  inspired  beginnings  of  our  modern 
painting. 

I  stayed  at  Varese  for  awhile  longer,  enjoying  the  de- 
lightful drives  and  walks  about  the  rolling  countryside,  with 
its  ever  pleasing  prospects  of  the  lakes  and  mountains,  and 
its  countless  charming  villas,  ideally  situated;  a  visit  to  some 
of  these  is  well  worth  while, —  such  as  the  Villa  Ponti, 
and  the  Litta  Modignani,  with  its  relics  of  Garibaldi's  battle, 
which  there  took  place.  A  large  part  of  the  district  can 
also  be  covered  by  trips  in  the  electric  cars,  including  the 
interesting   northern   shore  of   Lake  Varese,   with   its  many 

5  Published  by  Calzolari  and  Ferrario,  6  Via  Benvenuto  Cellini, 
Milan. 


THE  TOWNS  OF  THE  OLONA  VALLEY       171 

prosperous  little  towns. —  But  at  last,  one  morning,  I  bade 
adieu  to  the  uplands,  and  took  my  seat  in  an  early  train,  at 
the  other  station  than  the  one  where  I  had  arrived, —  bound 
for  the  city  of  Busto  Arsizio.  This  I  knew  to  be  a  very 
modernised  manufacturing  town;  but  it  contains  one  im- 
portant survival  of  the  Renaissance, —  a  church  from  Bra- 
mante's  own  designs,  which  is  decorated  with  paintings  by 
Luini,  Lanini,  and  Gaudenzio  Ferrari;  those  of  the  latter 
artist  being  of  especial  merit. 

This  railway  line  I  found  to  be  run  by  electric  power; 
the  handsome  new  coaches  were  built  in  the  American  style, 
with  a  single  long,  open  compartment  to  each  car,  having 
seats  facing  forward,  divided  by  the  aisle;  the  locomotives 
were  massive  double-headed  motors,  taking  their  energy 
from  a  third  rail,  and  capable  of  great  speed.  The  power,  I 
was  informed,  comes  from  the  large  falls  of  the  Ticino 
canal  at  Vizzola,  just  west  of  Busto  Arsizio,  where  is  lo- 
cated the  greatest  electric  generating  plant  in  Europe;  a 
good  part  of  the  water  of  the  Ticino  —  here  the  boundary 
of  Lombardy  —  is  conducted  by  this  canal  nearly  5  miles 
from  the  river,  to  plunge  into  the  artificial  turbine-pits ;  and 
the  resulting  energy  is  transmitted  far  and  wide  over  the 
plain,  furnishing  a  dozen  different  towns,  including  Busto, 
Legnano  and  Saronno,  with  the  power  for  their  lights,  tram- 
ways and  manufacturing  plants,  as  well  as  running  the  rail- 
ways of  the  district. 

The  train  bore  me  a  little  west  of  south,  diverging  from  the 
Olona  River,  at  a  rapidity  remarkable  for  Italy.  The  swell- 
ing uplands  were  soon  left  behind,  and  the  great  plain 
stretched  once  more  around  me,  in  all  its  closeness  of  culti- 
vation. At  Gallarate  we  joined  with  the  branch  lines  leading 
to  the  foot  and  middle  of  Lago  Maggiore;  then  turned  to 
the   southeast,    reaching   Busto   in   some   ten   minutes   more. 


172  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

This  little  city  of  20,000  people  lies  about  three  miles  west 
of  the  Olona  River,  and  nearly  25  miles  from  Milan;  it 
was  a  smaller  place  in  mediaeval  times, —  never  of  any  ac- 
count in  history,  though  included  in  the  possessions  of  the 
lords  of  Milan, —  and  has  been  recently  built  up  through 
its  manufacturing.  When  I  emerged  from  the  station,  at 
the  southeastern  side  of  the  town,  I  noticed  at  once  an  air 
of  intense  business  in  its  streets,  a  thronging  and  a  bustle, 
quite  indicative  of  its  commercial  spirit.  The  long  main 
thoroughfare,  leading  northwest, —  a  section  of  the  ancient 
highway  from  Milan  to  the  foot  of  Lago  Maggiore  —  was 
lined  by  modern,  uninteresting,  stuccoed  buildings  of  good 
size,  with  shops  fairly  up  to  date. 

Following  this  avenue  —  of  old  the  Via  Milano,  but  now 
rechristened  after  the  everlasting  Venti  Settembre, —  and 
traversing  the  Piazza  Garibaldi,  surrounded  by  cafes,  I 
reached  the  second  Piazza,  of  S.  Giovanni,  having  the  church 
of  that  name  upon  the  right  side,  facing  north.  It  was  a 
large  stuccoed  edifice  of  the  rococo  period,  with  a  lofty, 
handsome,  red-brick  campanile  beside  the  right  transept,  and 
a  curious  frescoed  shrine  upon  the  outside  of  the  right  wall 
of  the  nave,  adjacent  to  the  sidewalk  of  the  street.  Through 
its  barred  opening  I  saw  a  crowned,  gilt  Madonna  upon  an 
altar,  other  gilded  statues  in  niches,  painted  putt'i  frolicking 
over  the  wall-spaces,  and  a  recess  upon  the  right  piled  hor- 
ribly with  human  skulls  and  bones,  around  a  crucifix.  The 
utter  decadence  of  its  period  was  further  demonstrated  by 
the  fading  frescoes  on  its  outer  wall,  about  the  opening; 
they  represented  sporting  skeletons,  crowned  with  laurel, 
embracing  voluptuous  females,  and  above  these,  several  of 
the  old  Greek  goddesses.  This  was  indeed  extraordinary 
decoration  for  a  Christian  edifice, — •  the  most  extreme  ex- 
ample I  had  ever  found  of  the  debased  neo-classic  manner. 


THE  TOWNS  OF  THE  OLONA  VALLEY       173 

Adjacent,  in  the  open,  stood  an  awful  baroque  statue  to 
the  "  Beatae  Julianae,"  dated  1782, —  a  white  sandstone  fe- 
male of  sickening  pose  and  expression,  upon  a  red  granite 
pedestal.  She  was  rivalled  in  ugliness  by  the  fagade  of  the 
church,  which  was  an  unformed  mess  of  vilest  rococo  orna- 
mentation —  save  the  word, —  including  a  lot  of  dwarf- 
obelisks  tipped  with  balls,  and  grotesque  statues  with  whirl- 
ing garments.  Its  central  bronze  doors  were  quite  unusual, 
showing  scenes  from  the  Baptist's  life  in  an  exceedingly  im- 
pressionistic manner.  But  this  predecessor  of  Rodin  had  not 
achieved  great  success.  The  spacious,  finely  proportioned 
interior  of  the  edifice,  of  good  renaissance  design  spoiled  by 
gaudy  decoration,  proved  to  be  noteworthy  only  for  its  curi- 
ous plaster  reliefs,  painted  in  imitation  of  polished  bronze, 
posted  around  the  walls,  and  a  weird  ancona  in  the  right 
transept  that  might  be  called  the  apex  of  these  baroque 
horrors;  it  was  an  enormous  plaster  construction  represent- 
ing an  oval  of  coloured  clouds  and  putti-heads,  enclosing  a 
figure  of  Christ  upon  another  cloud,  draped  in  an  intensely 
vivid  scarlet  robe.     Words  could  not  do  it  injustice. 

But  one  block  farther  north,  however,  appeared  the  edi- 
fice designed  by  Bramante,  whose  purity  and  simple  grace 
seemed  most  delightful  after  this  rococo  barbarism.  It  was 
the  church  of  S.  Maria,  standing  upon  the  right  side  of  the 
piazza  of  the  same  name,  with  its  northern  fagade  faced  upon 
a  narrow  street  issuing  easterly:  a  cube-shaped  building,  of 
cream-coloured  stucco,  capped  by  an  octagonal  drum  of  nearly 
equal  breadth ;  the  latter  part  was  ornamented  with  a  hand- 
some gallery,  of  four  round  arches  per  side,  resting  upon 
slender  doric  columns  connected  by  a  balustrade ;  and  the  flat, 
tinned  dome  was  surmounted  by  an  octagonal,  columned 
lantern  of  two  stages.  The  two  facades  were  identically 
simple,  each  being  pierced  by  a  single  doorway  of  marble, 


i74  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

with  a  plain  circular  window  above  it,  and  two  at  the  sides; 
these  portals  were  framed  by  pilasters,  with  caps  made  of 
distorted  masks  and  horns  of  plenty,  supporting  a  high  en- 
tablature topped  by  limestone  statues ;  and  their  lunettes  held 
decaying  frescoes,  of  the  Madonna  with  angels  or  putti.  On 
the  south  rose  the  graceful,  detached  campanile,  of  stucco 
painted  brown  and  grey,  with  a  belfry  of  double  arches, 
tipped  by  a  square  lantern.  In  all  these  quiet,  harmonious 
lines  I  saw  the  unmistakable  imprint  of  the  great  Umbrian. 

The  beauties,  as  usual  with  Bramante,  lay  mostly  in  the 
interior,  for  whose  effect  everything  was  planned;  this  nave 
was  not  only  imposing  in  its  proportions,  and  charming  in  all 
its  parts,  it  was  also  finely  decorated ;  —  a  structure  delight- 
ful to  the  eye,  and  increasing  in  effectiveness  the  more  it  was 
studied.  Square  in  shape  upon  the  ground,  it  became  octag- 
onal through  projecting  quarter-domes  at  the  upper  corners, 
so  that  eight  huge  ornamental  arches  ran  around  the  walls; 
the  rear  one  enclosed  the  high-altar  recess,  of  moderate 
depth;  they  all  rested  upon  tall  pilasters  with  ornate  faces, 
painted  with  arabesques  and  putti  on  golden  ground.  In 
their  eight  spandrels  were  frescoed  medallions  containing 
busts;  on  the  four  quarter-domes  at  the  angles  were  four 
larger  frescoes,  three  of  them  modern,  the  fourth  a  splendid 
work  of  Gaudenzio  Ferrari. 

It  contained  seven  of  his  lovely  angels, —  five  playing  in- 
struments of  music,  and  two,  above  the  others,  singing  from 
a  long  scroll;  all  were  united  in  that  abandon  of  joyous  mel- 
ody, and  distinguished  by  that  full  beauty  of  form,  feature 
and  pose,  that  harmony  of  graceful  gestures  and  rhythm  of 
movement,  that  gaiety  of  colouring  —  now,  alas,  greatly 
faded  —  and  that  expression  of  rapt,  heavenly  happiness, 
which  are  so  striking  and  characteristic  of  the  master's 
genius.     This   painting  was   unfortunately   in   a  sad   condi- 


THE  TOWNS  OF  THE  OLONA  VALLEY       175 

tion.  The  other  three  contained  similar  groups  of  playing 
and  singing  angels,  likewise  disposed  and  gaily,  tinted;  but 
what  a  difference, —  in  their  lack  of  harmony  of  colours  and 
action,  and  their  doll-like  faces  devoid  of  meaning. 

Over  the  great  arches,  all  the  way  around,  ran  an  arcade 
of  niches  framed  with  pilasters  and  mouldings,  holding  32 
lifesize  statues  of  saints,  in  grey  plaster;  thence  sprang  the 
curve  of  the  dome,  in  each  of  whose  eight  divisions  there  was 
a  circular  window,  with  a  couple  of  painted  female  figures 
beside  it,  of  heroic  size.  These  were  the  saints  and  sibyls 
executed  by  Luini;  and  he  did  not  seem  to  have  taken  any 
special  pains  with  them, —  probably  on  account  of  their 
height  from  the  floor  —  having  evidently  confined  himself 
to  a  decorative  purpose  only.  In  such  a  work,  too,  his  pu- 
pils doubtless  did  a  large  part  of  the  colouring.  It  is  deco- 
rative, and  the  figures  are  fairly  lifelike,  but  that  is  all  I  can 
say  of  them  in  their  present  state. 

The  other  important  paintings  I  found  in  the  little  choir. 
Upon  the  insides  of  its  front  piers,  facing  each  other,  were 
firstly  the  two  figures  of  the  Virgin  and  the  announcing 
angel,  by  Ferrari's  pupil,  Lanini, —  rather  insipid  and  ex- 
pressionless. Next,  upon  the  left  wall,  was  a  large  fresco  of 
the  Magi  by  the  same  hand,  not  well  ordered  but  of  natural, 
vigorous,  lifesize  characters,  significant  and  graceful;  his 
principal  charm,  the  brilliant  colouring,  had  much  faded. 
Upon  the  opposite  wall,  at  the  sides  of  a  window,  were  an 
angel  playing  a  violin  and  a  Nativity,  also  by  Lanini;  the 
latter  showing  the  same  serious  fault  of  poor  composition, — 
being,  in  fact,  an  aggregation  of  crowded  heads;  at  any  rate, 
it  was  practically  ruined.  But  now  I  had  reached  a  genuine 
treasure,  the  foremost  of  the  city, —  its  celebrated  ancona  by 
Ferrari  himself,  which  he  painted  in  1539. 

This  was  a  large  canvas  over  the  high-altar,  in  a  splendidly 


176  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

carved  gilt  frame  of  six  compartments.  The  principal 
tableau  was  an  Assumption :  above  the  throng  of  apostles  and 
friends,  gazing  as  usual  with  awestruck  faces  and  uplifted 
arms,  soared  the  lovely,  rounded  form  of  the  Madonna, 
borne  upon  a  cloud  and  accompanied  by  a  flock  of  winged 
cherubs;  her  face,  beautiful  though  not  very  refined,  was 
upturned  with  a  proper  expression  of  rapture;  like  the  disci- 
ples below,  she  was  clad  in  a  simple,  unadorned  robe, —  here 
of  a  reddish  hue.  In  this  last  respect  Ferrari  showed  his 
common  sense.  He  used  to  "  object  to  the  Madonna  and 
the  Apostles  being  painted  in  gorgeous  robes, — '  which,'  as 
he  truly  said,  '  they  never  wore.'  "  6  The  picture  was  per- 
fectly preserved,  except  for  the  inevitable  slight  fading  of 
his  bright  tints.  The  male  figures  were  virile,  strongly 
modelled  and  individualised,  with  speaking  faces.  To  left 
of  this,  below,  stood  the  Baptist  holding  a  lamb;  to  right  of 
it,  St.  Michael,  with  his  arm  uplifted  to  strike  a  demon  upon 
the  ground, —  a  superb  form,  of  exquisite  shapeliness  and 
poise,  and  truly  celestial  beauty.  Above  these  last  were  two 
smaller,  three-quarter  figures  of  saints,  and  at  the  top  of  the 
frame,  a  majestic,  imposing,  brooding  figure  of  the  Eternal 
Father,  looking  down  with  outstretched  hands.  Though 
Ferrari  was  68  years  of  age  when  he  executed  this  piece,  and 
had  generally  retrograded  in  his  work  toward  the  close  of 
his  life,  I  could  not  see  in  it  any  marked  deterioration ;  it 
was  not  equal  to  his  greatest  productions,  but  nevertheless 
was  full  of  his  old  charm  of  form  and  colour;  and  the  St. 
Michael  could  hardly  be  surpassed  by  any  hand. 

Still  another  treat  awaited  me,  at  the  back  of  the  altar, 
—  the  predelle  of  the  ancona,  also  executed  by  Ferrari,  upon 
wood.  They  were  four  delightful  little  scenes,  very  prettily 
tinted:  the  Birth  of  the  Virgin,  her  Presentation,  her  Wed- 

6  Ethel  Halsey's  "  Gaudenzio  Ferrari." 


THE  TOWNS  OF  THE  OLONA  VALLEY       177 

ding,  and  a  view  of  her  with  the  youthful  Christ  in  the  car- 
pentry-shop. All  these  were  happily  set  in  natural,  home 
backgrounds,  the  figures  realistic  but  very  pleasing,  and 
effectively  grouped  to  tell  the  tale.  The  Wedding  was  full 
of  people,  but  the  contracting  parties  were  simply  earnest,  and 
impressive.  Most  pleasing  of  all  was  the  scene  of  the  dusky 
work-room  at  eventide,  with  St.  Joseph  absorbed  in  planing 
at  his  bench,  the  Madonna  seated  opposite,  and  the  boy  Christ 
standing  by,  watching  him, —  plainly  dressed,  unmoving,  yet 
lustrous  in  His  beauty  of  youth  and  spirituality. 

Returning  down  the  main  street,  I  had  lunch  at  one  of 
the  numerous  restaurants,  thronged  with  business  men,  and 
by  two  o'clock  was  again  aboard  train,  whirling  southeast. 
The  frequency  of  these  fast,  new  trains,  and  their  invariable 
crowding,  with  well-dressed,  intelligent  people,  were  charac- 
teristic of  this  swiftly  developing,  commercial  Milanese;  but 
ah, —  how  utterly  different  from  the  dreamy  mediaevalism  of 
other  districts  of  Italy.  Yet  I  was  now  advancing  upon 
some  of  the  most  historic  ground  of  the  Middle  Age, — 
ground,  in  fact,  more  sacred  than  any  other  to  the  Italian 
patriot.  For  at  Legnano  was  fought  that  ever  memorable 
battle  which  destroyed  at  last  the  power  and  pretensions  of 
Frederick  Barbarossa,  and  brought  to  the  Lombard  cities 
their  long-desired  freedom.  If  Pontida,  where  the  league  of 
the  cities  was  first  ratified  by  their  consuls,  can  properly  be 
called  the  conception  of  Italian  freedom,  Legnano  is  rightly 
named  its  birthplace;  and  in  terrible  travail  was  it  born,  on 
that  day  of  May  29,  11 76,  when  the  Lombards  of  every 
region  poured  out  their  blood  like  water. 

Fourteen  years  previously,  in  1162,  the  relentless  Emperor 
had  taken  and  destroyed  Milan,  had  razed  to  the  ground 
that  splendid  capital  with  all  its  palatial  relics  of  Roman 
days,  and  scattered  its  300,000  inhabitants  over  the  plain. 


178  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

This  deed  was  followed  by  a  general  sway  over  the  plain- 
towns  so  rigorous  and  exacting,  so  forceful  and  tyrannical, 
that  at  the  end  of  five  ignominious  years,  without  one  dis- 
senting voice,  they  united  themselves  at  Pontida  to  resist  the 
foreigner  unto  death.  Three  hundred  of  their  leading  young 
nobles,  from  a  dozen  cities,  also  joined  themselves  by  holy  rite 
into  the  famous  "  Company  of  Death,"  pledged  by  the  most 
solemn  oaths  not  to  lay  down  the  sword,  nor  hesitate  at  any 
risk,  till  they  had  purchased  freedom  even  with  their  lives. 
No  further  evidence  is  needed,  of  the  lasting  impression  made 
upon  the  Italian  people  by  this  occurrence, —  when  for  the 
first  time  since  the  fall  of  the  Roman  Empire  they  united 
together  for  self-protection  —  than  the  fact  that  one  still 
finds  everywhere  in  Italian  households  representations  upon 
their  walls,  in  oil,  chromo,  engraving,  or  wood-cut,  of  the 
"  Giuramento  di  Pontida." 

That  same  year  the  new  allies  rebuilt  Milan.  The  Em- 
peror took  up  the  challenge,  and  a  long,  varying  struggle  en- 
sued, during  which  the  cities  held  together  with  remarkable 
firmness.  At  last  Frederick  determined  to  end  it  with  an- 
other great  blow,  and  in  the  Spring  of  1176  gathered  his 
heaviest  forces  at  Como;  the  undaunted  Lombards  prepared 
their  army  of  fellow-citizens  at  Milan.  Foremost  in  their 
preparations  was  the  new  Carroccio,1  or  battle-car,  which 
according  to  mediaeval  custom  was  to  advance  in  the  front 
ranks  against  the  enemy,  representing  all  that  they  fought 
for;  it  was  their  standard,  their  leader,  their  inspiration,  their 

7  This  curious  medieval  institution  was  first  devised  by  Ariberto, 
Archbishop  of  Milan,  about  1040;  and  "was  soon  adopted  by  cities 
throughout  Italy.  It  gave  cohesion  and  confidence  to  the  citizens, 
reminded  them  that  the  church  was  on  their  side  in  the  struggle 
for  freedom,  and  served  as  a  symbol  of  their  military  strength  in 
union."     J.  A.  Symonds'  "  Age  of  the  Despots." 


THE  TOWNS  OF  THE  OLONA  VALLEY       179 

ark  of  the  covenant,  by  which  they  would  stand  or  fall. 
"  This  car  was  escorted  by  a  picked  company  of  horsemen, 
nine  hundred  strong,  and  defended  by  three  hundred  young 
nobles, —  the  Company  of  Death,  its  members  being  sworn 
rather  to  die  than  lose  their  precious  charge.  The  car  itself 
was  drawn  by  six  milk-white  oxen  in  scarlet  harness.  In 
its  centre  a  huge  crucifix  surmounted  a  globe,  above  which, 
from  a  mast,  floated  the  banner  of  the  Milanese  Republic. 
It  contained  an  altar  on  which  masses  were  said,  and  appli- 
ances for  tending  the  wounded."  8 

Barbarossa,  leaving  his  Empress  at  the  castle  of  Baradello 
near  Como,  moved  southward  with  his  host,  and  the  brave 
burghers  advanced  to  meet  him.  At  Legnano  the  clash  oc- 
curred. It  was  the  old,  old  conflict  between  mercenaries 
bent  on  conquest  and  citizens  fighting  for  all  they  held  dear; 
and  the  patriots  entered  upon  it  with  feelings  of  sacred  devo- 
tion, after  inspiring  ceremonies  by  the  priests.  "  As  the 
Carroccio  moved  forward  towards  the  Imperial  army,  its 
escort  kneeled  down  in  prayer."  9  The  ensuing  struggle  was 
frightful;  for  miles  over  the  plain  men  died  by  the  thou- 
sands, but  especially  around  the  devoted  Carroccio  did  the 
carnage  flourish.  The  Emperor  was  determined  to  seize  it, 
realising  that  that  would  give  him  victory;  for  hours  he 
launched  against  it  his  best  battalions, —  but  its  defenders 
fought  until  they  fell,  and  their  places  were  instantly  filled, 
again  and  again.  The  Company  of  Death  earned  its  name, 
going  down  to  immortal  glory.  When  the  day  ended  Bar- 
barossa's  host  was  broken  and  dispersed,  shattered  beyond 
mending,  and  he  himself  was  wounded  and  a  fugitive.  His 
very  shield  was  in  the  Lombards'  hands,  and  for  three  days 
they  believed  him  dead,  unrecognised  amongst  the  countless 

8  Richard  Bagot's  "  The  Lakes  of  Northern  Italy." 

9  Oscar  Browning's  "  Guelfs  and  Ghibellines." 


180  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

corpses.  Meanwhile  he  was  creeping  from  one  hiding-place 
to  another,  avoiding  the  parties  pursuing  his  crumbled  army, 
and  at  the  end  of  the  third  day  "  appeared  unattended  before 
the  fortress  of  Baradello,  where  the  Empress  was  already 
mourning  for  him  as  dead  on  the  field  of  battle." 

"  Frederick  realised  the  situation :  he  had  been  beaten ;  he 
was  therefore  ready  to  make  peace  on  the  cities'  terms.  He 
met  Alexander  III  (the  Pope)  at  St.  Mark's  at  Venice 
( 1 1 77) ,  fell  at  his  feet,  confessed  his  wrong  deeds  and 
begged  the  Pope  to  remove  the  ban  from  him.  The  Pope 
yielded,  and  a  truce  was  declared.  Six  years  later,  at  Con- 
stance, the  treaty  of  peace  was  signed  which  granted  the 
cities  substantially  all  they  had  demanded."  9a  Four  hundred 
years  later,  in  1876,  the  quartercentenary  of  the  birth  of 
Italian  freedom  was  celebrated  at  Legnano  with  great  re- 
joicings, by  a  country  at  last  independent  and  united,  from 
ocean  to  ocean.  And  24  years  after  that,  following  the  wish 
of  the  people,  the  national  government  erected  upon  the 
battleground  the  now  famous  memorial,  from  the  chisel  of 
the  talented  sculptor,  Butti. 

As  for  Legnano  itself,  it  was  until  recent  times  a  little, 
unimportant  place,  overshadowed  by  the  adjacent  metropolis; 
and  resembles  Busto  also  in  having  a  single  interesting  relic 
of  the  Renaissance  era, —  a  church  from  Bramante's  design, 
almost  identical  with  Busto's,  which  is  furthermore  decorated 
by  Luini  and  Lanini.  Luini's  altar-piece  (1524)  is  ranked 
amongst  the  few  greatest  works  of  Lombardy.  Like  Busto, 
again,  Legnano  has  increased  her  wealth  and  size  through 
modern  manufacturing,  until  she  too  can  boast  of  nearly 
20,000  inhabitants;  she  is  perhaps  even  more  typical  of  the 
bustling,  rebuilt  factory-town.  It  is  the  silk-trade,  chiefly, 
that  has  made  these  cities  of  the  Milanese   flourish.     The 

0a  Oscar   Browning's   "  Guelfs   and   Ghibellines." 


THE  TOWNS  OF  THE  OLONA  VALLEY       181 

production  of  raw  silk  has  grown  steadily  all  over  the  plain, 
from  that  fortunate  day  when  it  was  introduced  by  the 
mediaeval  despots  (the  one  great  benefit  which  they  rendered 
their  country) ,  until  Italy's  annual  crop  now  reaches  well 
over  a  third  of  that  of  the  whole  world.  But  it  is  above  all 
the  staple  of  northern  Lombardy.  "  Till  lately  the  great 
bulk  of  silk  thread  was  sent  abroad  to  be  woven.  But  in 
the  last  twenty  years  the  old  hand-looms  and  their  beautiful 
brocades  have  disappeared,  and  great  textile  mills  with  over 
7,000  power-looms  have  sprung  up  in  the  provinces  of  Como 
and  Milan."  10 

These  are  the  wealth-producing  factories  with  which  the 
towns  of  the  region  are  filled,  increasing  in  number  month 
by  month.  The  railway  trains,  the  steamers  on  the  lakes, 
and  the  barges  on  the  canals,  pass  before  one's  eyes  laden 
always  with  the  bags  of  raw  silk  from  the  farms  or  the  boxes 
of  woven  goods  from  the  mills.  "  The  exports  of  silk  have 
risen  from  £13,250,000  in  1897  to  nearly  £21,000,000  in 
1899,"  and  the  rise  has  ever  since  continued.  It  is  not  for 
nothing  that  one  sees  the  Milanese  covered  with  a  blanket 
of  mulberry  trees,  wheresoever  he  looks. 

Ten  minutes  only  after  my  departure  from  Busto, —  dur- 
ing which  we  had  traversed  SV2  miles  —  and  I  was  again  de- 
scending at  a  crowded,  busy  station.  Pushing  my  way  out, 
after  depositing  my  luggage,  I  found  the  main  street  of 
Legnano  running  straightaway  to  the  east;  and  following 
this  I  came  shortly  to  a  sunny,  oval  piazza,  surrounded  by 
stuccoed  dwellings  with  walled  gardens  and  trees,  including 
one  stately  renaissance  palace.  But  I  had  no  eyes  for  aught 
except  the  oval's  centre,  where  loomed  a  great  monument  re- 
quiring instant  recognition ;  too  many  a  time  had  I  seen  re- 
produced that  giant  mailed  figure  of  a  12th  century  warrior 

10  King  and  Okey's  "  Italy  To-day." 


182  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

—  dear  to  every  patriotic  heart  —  not  to  know  it  as  the  na- 
tional memorial.     There  he  stood  against  the  blue  sky,  far 
aloft  upon  a  mighty  block  of  granite, —  this  majestic  cham- 
pion of  human   freedom,  this  representative  of  the  citizen- 
soldier  as  against  the  robber-knight,  of  the  Italian  burgher 
roused   to  defend  his  land.     He  was  clad   cap-a-pie  in  the 
chain-armour  of  his  time,  an  unvisored  morion  upon  his  head, 
his  left  arm  holding  a  long,  triangular  shield ;  his  legs  were 
spread  as  if  he  posed  upon  a  mountain-peak,  the  left  one  sus- 
taining his  weight,   the  right   foot  considerably  higher,  ad- 
vanced upon  a  rock;  in  the  right  hand  he  grasped  his  sword, 
stretching  it  out  and  upward  to  the  full  length  of  the  arm, 
which  together  with  the  blade,  formed  one  straight  line ;  the 
stalwart  shoulders  were  squared,   the  martial  head   thrown 
back,  and  from  the  open  lips  of  the  resolute,  fierce  counte- 
nance there  seemed  to  be  proceeding  a  roar  of  defiance  to  his 
country's    enemies, —  a    mighty    oath    upon    the    extended 
weapon,  that  never  should  it  be  sheathed  till  Italy  was  free. 
A  most  remarkable,  impressive  figure, —  so  lifelike,  so  pow- 
erful, so  thrilling  with  turbulent  emotion,  that  the  observer's 
heart  beats  more  swiftly  with  the  reflex  of  its  fiery  patriotism 
and  the  sense  of  those  terrible  days.     It   is  indeed  a  chef 
d'ceuvre,  of  the  new,  unconventional  sculpture;  and  its  dar- 
ing novelty  is  augmented  by  the  setting, —  for  its  left  side 
is  toward  the  front  of  the  monument,  which  gives  the  most 
effective  view  of  its  embattled  posture.     Approaching  closer 
to  this  front,  I  examined  the  relief  upon  the  polished  grey 
granite:   there  was  the   Carroccio,   drawn  by   its  six  white 
oxen,  escorted  by  foot-soldiers,  preceded  by  a  mounted  knight 
who  gazed  anxiously  ahead;  the  wide  car  itself  being  laden 
with  a  throng  of  priests,  who  were  engaged  in  ceremonies 
about  its  tall  wooden  crucifix.     It  was  a  fine,  realistic  piece 
of  carving,  in  spite  of  the  impressionistic  manner.     And  it 


THE  TOWNS  OF  THE  OLONA  VALLEY       183 

carried  my  thoughts  to  the  foregoing  evening  at  Varese, 
where  by  a  strange  fortune  I  had  chanced  to  witness  a  cine- 
matograph-film showing  this  same  Carroccio  in  the  midst  of 
battle.  I  saw  its  devoted  defenders  struggling  with  the 
hordes  of  savage  assailants,  men  falling  like  leaves,  and  fresh 
fighters  ever  taking  their  places, —  wild,  fierce  figures  in 
their  uncouth  chain-armour,  long  shields  and  flashing  swords ; 
while  through  it  all,  quite  undisturbed,  the  bishop  and  his 
surpliced  attendants  continued  their  sacred  rites  upon  the 
platform,  praying,  swinging  incense,  sprinkling  holy  water 
and  blessings  upon  the  battling,  dying  Lombards  below.  It 
was  the  popular  Italian  piece  entitled  "  Legnano " ;  and 
toward  the  conclusion  of  the  vivid  battle  scenes  disclosed  the 
wounded,  beaten  Emperor  fleeing  alone  from  his  triumphant 
foes. 

Upon  the  rear  side  of  the  base  appeared  the  inscription: 
at  the  sides,  in  two  even  rows,  the  names  of  the  24  cities 
that  constituted  the  Lombard  League,  and  between  them  the 
following:  "Dove  —  il  29  Maggio  11 76  —  la  lega  di 
poche  citta  —  rivendico  —  contra  la  maesta  dell'  impero  — 
la  liberta  del  commune  —  l'ltalia  —  a  perenne  ricordanza  — 
eresse  —  il  29  Giugno,  1 900."  21 

Farther  down  the  street,  upon  the  left,  I  passed  a  long, 
high  factory-building,  of  excellent  style  and  cleanliness,  occu- 
pying with  its  grounds  a  full  square  block.  Either  it  was 
one  of  the  latest,  model  silk-mills,  which  are  renowned  for 
the  comfort  of  their  employes,  or  else  it  was  the  famous 
electrical-machinery  works  of  Legnano,  which  were  founded 
by  the  late  Signore  Tosi,  and  are  known  to  send  their  prod- 

11  "  Where,  on  May  29,  1176,  the  League  of  a  few  cities  revenged 
upon  the  majesty  of  the  Empire  the  liberty  of  the  Commune,  here 
Italy,  on  June  29,  1900,  erected  (this  monument)  in  perennial  re- 
membrance." 


1 84  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

ucts  all  over  Europe.  Especially  remarkable  was  the  pleas- 
ing absence  of  smoke  and  soot,  not  only  from  the  factory, 
but  from  all  the  buildings  and  the  air  of  the  city;  such  is  the 
happy  result  of  using  electric  power, —  which  comes  to  these 
towns,  not  merely  from  Vizzola,  but  also  from  the  vast 
Edison  Company  at  Podermo  on  the  Adda.  It  is  the  fall  of 
the  latter  river  that  runs  the  great  tramway  and  lighting 
systems  of  Milan.  So  is  Italy  being  at  last  freed  by  her 
rivers  from  the  long  poverty  and  misery  entailed  by  her  lack 
of  coal, —  and  freed  in  a  manner  that  will  leave  her  glorious 
cities  —  thank  Heaven — without  the  destroying  curse  of  the 
smoke-pall.  Italy  is  now  fast  becoming  an  industrial  nation, 
whose  sons,  with  their  proverbial  quickness  of  intelligence 
and  their  dexterity,  have  in  one  generation  made  themselves 
artisans  of  the  highest  quality,  independent  of  foreign  guid- 
ance. They  are  forming  a  new,  educated,  self-respecting 
class  in  the  commonwealth. 

Taking  the  first  turn  to  the  south,  beyond,  which  brought 
me  quickly  to  a  small  piazza,  and  again  turning  to  the  right 
from  this,  I  reached  finally  the  spacious  old  central  piazza, 
renamed  after  Umberto  I.  It  was  a  very  wide,  cobble- 
paved,  treeless  space,  surrounded  by  two-  and  three-storied 
stucco  buildings,  more  or  less  modern,  and  quite  plain  in 
appearance.  At  the  southern  end  lingered  one  quaint,  older 
edifice,  of  gothic  times,  painted  red  to  simulate  brick,  having 
a  pointed  central  archway  leading  to  the  courtyard,  over 
which  hung  a  fine  stone  balcony  with  gothic  doors ;  beside  the 
pointed  windows  of  the  second  storey  were  painted  medal- 
lions in  grisaille,  containing  busts  and  coats  of  arms.  But 
naught  now  remained  of  those  noble  tenants  of  long  ago  ; 
business  usurped  their  seat;  and,  passing  through  the  ancient 
doors,  whose  great  iron  knockers  still  survived,  I  found  a 
Stable  for  horses  occupying  the  picturesque,  unaltered  court, 


THE  TOWNS  OF  THE  OLONA  VALLEY       185 

with  its  singular  outer  stairway  of  mediaeval,  ladder-like 
design. 

At  the  piazza's  far  eastern  end  I  saw  the  object  of  my 
search, —  the  large  red-brick  church  of  S.  Magno,  with  its 
lofty  drum  and  baroque  campanile.  Its  facade,  with  lean-to 
aisles,  was  noticeable  only  for  the  central  portal,  of  classic 
form.  Adjacent  on  its  left  appeared  the  new,  unfinished 
Municipio,  upon  an  intervening  side  street,  built  of  red  brick 
and  light  grey  stone  in  a  sort  of  debased  gothic  style.  Cross- 
ing the  sunny  square  and  entering  the  church,  I  stood  under 
a  domed  cube  practically  identical  with  S.  Maria  at  Busto, 
evidently  constructed  from  the  same  designs  of  Bramante ; 
the  only  difference  being  that  the  niches  around  the  octagonal 
drum  were  three  per  side,  containing  no  statues,  with  no 
paintings  above  them,  nor  in  the  quarter-domes  of  the  angles, 
and  that  here  there  were  lateral  projections  of  all  the  eight 
large  surrounding  archways, —  into  an  entrance  passage, 
choir,  and  side-chapels;  there  being  two  of  the  latter  in  each 
corner.  The  lofty  dome  was  a  horrible,  decadent  display  of 
grey  grotesques  on  blue  ground. 

Lanini's  frescoes  appeared  upon  all  sides,  more  or  less 
damaged  and  of  varied  worth.  In  the  entrance  passage  there 
remained  the  lifesize  figures  of  the  Madonna,  a  saint,  and 
another  Madonna  between  two  saints, —  the  latter  quite 
fair,  seated  simply  with  the  Christ-child  on  her  knee;  other 
pictures  had  vanished  away.  In  the  first  chapel  to  left  re- 
mained an  interesting  group  of  the  Madonna  between  four 
standing  saints, —  two  bishops  and  two  women  —  fairly  well 
preserved  and  graceful ;  St.  Jerome  and  another  adorned  its 
entrance-pillars,  and  upon  its  right  wall  was  a  large,  badly 
retouched  Adoration.  The  chief  attraction  in  all  these  was 
Lanini's  bright,  tender  hues,  which  he  took  from  his  master, 
Ferrari. 


186  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

Advancing  to  the  choir,  I  found  its  walls  also  covered  by 
his  works,  which  were  the  best  I  had  yet  seen ;  in  fact,  they 
were  surprisingly  good,  in  spots, —  for  Lanini  was  always  va- 
riable. The  entrance-piers  bore,  heroic  figures  of  S.  Magno, 
and  Christ  carrying  the  Cross;  on  the  left  wall,  above,  were 
the  Visitation  and  the  Marriage  of  the  Virgin,  and  below, 
the  Adoration  and  the  Coming  of  the  Magi.  In  the  last 
two  the  Madonna  was  a  most  lovely,  charming  personage, 
of  alluring  form  and  pose,  and  devoted  expression;  and  the 
other  figures  were  almost  equally  attractive,  especially  in  the 
Adoration.  There  the  Virgin  knelt  above  her  Babe  in  rap- 
ture, while  St.  Joseph,  the  three  shepherds,  and  two  angels 
playing  upon  instruments,  all  bent  tenderly  forward  with 
gentle,  loving  regard, — making  a  really  delightful  scene. 
On  the  right  wall,  above,  there  glowed  in  his  usual  lively 
tints  the  master's  second-best  picture,  a  Circumcision,  flanked 
by  a  Massacre  of  the  Innocents;  below  were  the  Disputa 
and  the  Journey  into  Egypt, —  the  former  a  strong,  effective 
tableau,  with  a  beautiful  boy  Christ.  On  the  rear  wall, 
beside  Luini's  great  pala,  were  the  large  figures  of  Sts.  Roch 
and  Sebastian,  each  with  an  angel  hovering  above  him  in  the 
sky;  and  six  more  heroic  saints,  mostly  vanished,  occupied 
the  lunettes  beside  the  three  circular  windows. 

There  were  some  rather  interesting,  early  choir-stalls  here, 
black  with  age,  embellished  with  pleasing  putti  in  the  place 
of  columns, —  a  happy  idea.  But  above  and  beyond  all  else 
glowed  Luini's  magnificent  altar-piece,  illumining  the  whole 
church  with  the  glory  4of  its  wondrous  forms  and  opulent 
hues.  In  truth  it  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  works  con- 
ceivable. Words  can  give  no  idea  of  its  deeply  golden  tone, 
its  idyllic  atmosphere,  its  incredible  loveliness  of  figure  and 
face,  its  deliciously  moulded  and  tinted  fleshwork,  its  har- 
monious expression  of  celestial  joy.     The  Madonna  sits  en- 


THE  TOWNS  OF  THE  OLONA  VALLEY       187 

throned,  with  the  Child  on  her  left  knee,  clad  in  a  rose- 
coloured  bodice  and  green  gown,  looking  down  with  her  ex- 
quisitely tender  and  loving  face  at  the  very  real  and  pleasing 
infant ;  beside  her  appear  four  saints,  of  three-quarter  figure, 
proportioned  and  modelled  to  the  life;  overhead  flutter  three 
little  winged  cherubs,  with  the  sublime  form  of  the  Eternal 
Father  at  the  top;  at  her  foot  sit  three  little  angels  playing 
flutes,  of  the  most  refined,  ethereal  loveliness;  and  two  more, 
somewhat  larger,  are  playing  upon  mandolins  at  the  sides. 
The  central  group  of  the  Madonna,  Child  and  three  small 
angels,  is  certainly  one  of  the  sweetest,  most  enchanting  con- 
ceptions of  all  Art;  and  perfectly  executed, —  they  actually 
breathe  and  make  melody  before  one's  eyes.  The  shading 
throughout  is  most  effective,  the  colouring  a  superb  scheme 
of  harmonious,  gentle  shades.  The  faces  one  and  all  reflect 
a  beauty  and  a  sense  of  bliss  that  could  come  only  from 
Paradise. 

The  predelle  of  this  masterpiece  are  strangely  unworthy 
of  it,  being  simply  in  dark-brown  monotone, —  nine  small 
panels,  representing  the  Saviour,  the  four  Evangelists,  and 
scenes  from  the  Passion.  But  as  to  the  great  canvas  itself, 
so  perfectly  preserved, —  no  one  who  loves  Italian  painting 
should  miss  it;  and  if  Luini  had  never  done  another  work, 
it  would  still  rank  him  among  those  immortals  that  Andrea 
del  Sarto  dreamed  of,  as  entitled  to  paint  the  walls  of 
Heaven. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  MARVELLOUS  CERTOSA  DI  PAVIA 

"But  let  my  due  feet  never  fail 
To  walk  the  studious  cloister's  pale 
And  love  the  high-embowed  roof, 
With  antique  pillars  mossy  proof, 
And   storied  windows   richly  dight 
Casting  a  dim  religious  light." 


Milton. 


"  In  the  midst  of  that  plain  —  stands  one  of  the  most  in- 
teresting and  most  magnificent  of  Italian  churches  and  mon- 
asteries.—  This  temple  —  so  vast  in  extent,  so  minute  in  de- 
tail, so  ponderous  and  so  brilliant,  stands  apart  from  the 
road,  and  at  the  extremity  of  a  venerable  avenue,  deeply  se- 
cluded within  the  once  sacred  precincts  of  its  ancient  walls. — 
Although  commenced  in  the  14th  century,  the  artists  of  Italy 
were  still  working  at  it  in  the  18th;  yet  the  labour  of  400 
years  scarcely  accounts  for  the  immensity  of  its  details,  its 
sculptures,  its  carvings,  its  statuary,  its  works  in  gold,  bronze, 
ivory  and  ebony,  its  accumulations  of  precious  stones,  of  mo- 
saics, of  pictures,  frescoes,  and  all  the  wonders  of  wealth  and 
art,  which  go  to  perfecting  its  chapels,  its  choirs,  and  its 
sacristies,  its  altars,  monuments,  and  mausoleums."  * 

"  Those  who  have  only  once  been  driven  round  with  the 
crew  of  sight-seers,  can  carry  little  away  but  the  memory 
of  lapis  lazuli  and  bronze-work,  inlaid  agates  and  laby- 
rinthine sculpture,  cloisters  tenantless  in  silence,  fair,  painted 
faces  smiling  from  dark  corners  on  the  senseless  crowd,  trim 

*Lady  Morgan's  "Italy,"  Vol.  I. 


THE  MARVELLOUS  CERTOSA  DI  PAVIA     189 

gardens  with  rows  of  pink  primroses  in  Spring,  and  of  begonia 
in  Autumn,  blooming  beneath  colonnades  of  glowing  terra- 
cotta.—  Thoughts  of  the  two  great  houses,  Visconti  and 
Sforza,  to  whose  pride  of  power  it  is  a  monument,  may  be 
blended  with  the  recollection  of  art-treasures  alien  to  their 
spirit. —  The  Certosa  is  a  wilderness  of  lovely  workman- 
ship." -  — "  High  in  the  midst  of  its  silent,  solitary,  and 
overpowering  magnificence,  rises  the  mausoleum  of  its  mur- 
derous founder,  Gian  Galeazzo  Visconti.  This  superb 
monument  was  raised  by  the  monks  to  the  memory  of  their 
benefactor,  a  century  after  his  death ;  to  give  a  hint,  perhaps, 
to  his  successors,  the  Sforzas,  to  go  and  do  likewise."  3 

"  In  Gian  Galeazzo  that  passion  for  the  colossal  which  was 
common  to  most  of  the  despots  shows  itself  on  the  largest 
scale. —  He  founded  that  most  wonderful  of  all  convents, 
the  Certosa  of  Pavia."  4  Some  authorities  say  that  it  was 
in  consequence  of  a  vow  made  by  his  wife,  Catharine,  when 
she  was  threatened  by  a  great  danger ;  others,  that  the  tyrant 
was  prompted  by  the  desire  to  make  a  splendid  guilt-offering 
to  appease  Heaven  in  regard  to  the  crime  by  which  he  had 
obtained  his  sovereignty.  For  he  had,  as  already  related, 
mounted  to  power  by  seizing  the  persons  of  his  uncle  Ber- 
nabo  and  the  latter's  sons,  and  imprisoning  them  in  the 
Castle  of  Trezzo;  and  there  he  had  eventually  killed  them 
by  poison.  That  the  latter  was  one  of  the  causes  for  the 
great  building  is  probably  true,  at  any  rate;  for  it  was  the 
usual  practice  of  the  mediaeval  despots,  especially  the  most 
bloody,  thus  to  endeavour  to  buy  Heaven's  forgiveness  of 
their  crimes,  under  the  crafty  tuition  of  the  priests.  It  is 
also  certain  that  Gian  Galeazzo  was  inspired  by  his  passion 

2  J.  A.  Symonds'  "  Sketches  and  Studies  in  Italy." 

3  Lady  Morgan's  "  Italy,"  Vol.   I. 

4  Burckhardt's  "  Re'naissance  in  Italy." 


igo  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

for  majestic  building,  conjointly  with  the  desire  to  leave  an 
unsurpassable  sepulchral  monument  for  himself  and  his  royal 
line. 

So  the  convent  was  founded,  on  Sept.  8,  1396,  in  the 
open  plain  17  miles  south  of  Milan,  within  five  miles  of 
Pavia;  a  grant  of  wide-spread  estates  was  made  for  its  en- 
dowment, and  the  greatest  artists  of  the  period  engaged  to 
work  upon  it.  "  The  church  and  monastery  rose  with  in- 
credible speed,  and  in  unrivalled  splendour ;  and  in  three  years 
it  was  sufficiently  advanced  to  receive  the  prior  and  24  monks 
of  the  order  of  the  Chartreuse.  The  immense  estates 
granted  by  its  founder  rendered  it  one  of  the  richest  con- 
vents in  Italy;  and  a  codicil  to  his  will,  intimating  that  the 
monks  should  lay  by  a  sum  annually  for  its  decoration  and 
■improvement,  added  to  its  beauty  and  richness.  Successive 
donations  still  further  increased  the  wealth  of  the  house; 
the  genius  and  talent  of  successive  ages  contributed  to  its 
ultimate  perfection,  and  the  cloisters  of  the  Certosa  became  the 
studio  of  Luini,  Giacomo  della  Porta,  Procaccini,  Sacchi, 
Guercino,  and  others  of  equal  note  and  ability."  5 

Yet  the  long,  slow  labour  of  completing  so  great  an  under- 
taking had  comparatively  languished  during  the  wars  of  Gian 
Galeazzo's  son,  Filippo  Maria,  the  troublous  times  of  Fran- 
cesco Sforza,  and  the  wasteful  dissipations  of  his  son  Gale- 
azzo;  and  it  remained  for  that  splendid  patron  of  the  arts, 
Lodovico  il  Moro,  to  finish  the  Certosa  upon  a  scale  still 
more  glorious, —  as  his  one  lasting  achievement,  and  as  a 
deathless  memorial  to  his  own  talents  and  to  his  family. 

"  This  famous  church  and  monastery  had  been  the  pride 
of  successive  Dukes  of  Milan,  since  the  day  when  Galeazzo 
Visconti  laid  the  first  stone  in  his  park  of  Pavia  a  hundred 
years  before.     Viscontis  and  Sforzas  had  alike  helped  to  en- 

5  Lady  Morgan's   "  Italy,"  Vol.   I. 


THE  MARVELLOUS  CERTOSA  DI  PAVIA     191 

rich  their  ancestor's  mighty  foundation,  and  to  carry  on  the 
work.  But  the  Certosa  owes  more  to  Lodovico  Sforza  than 
to  any  other  member  of  the  dynasty. —  This  great  shrine 
was  the  special  object  of  his  solicitude.  In  his  eyes,  as  he 
said, —  the  Certosa  was  the  jewel  of  the  Crown,  the  noblest 
monument  in  the  whole  realm.  The  completion  of  the 
facade  and  the  internal  decoration  of  the  great  church  and 
chapels,  was  one  of  the  objects  that  lay  nearest  to  his  heart. 
A  whole  army  of  architects  and  sculptors,  painters  and  build- 
ers, were  employed  under  his  orders;  and  so  great  was  the 
store  of  precious  marbles,  brought  from  Carrara  and  other 
parts  of  Italy,  that  the  place  was  said  to  resemble  a  vast 
stone  quarry.  During  the  20  years  that  the  Moro  reigned 
as  Regent  and  Duke  of  Milan,  the  new  apse  built  in  Bra- 
mante's  classical  style,  the  central  cupola,  and  the  beautiful 
cloisters  with  their  slender  marble  shafts  and  dark-red  terra- 
cotta friezes  of  angel-heads,  all  rose  into  being.  Then  Am- 
brogio  Borgonone  decorated  the  nave  and  apse. —  But  the 
crowning  work  of  Lodovico's  days  was  the  facade  of  the 
great  church,  which,  after  many  different  attempts,  was 
finally  begun  in  149 1,  and  mostly  executed  during  the  next 
seven  years. 

"  This  magnificent  creation,  the  triumph  of  Lombard 
genius,  was  designed  by  a  native  architect,  Giovanni  Antonio 
Amadeo. —  In  1490  this  gifted  artist  was  appointed  Capo 
maestro  of  the  Certosa  works.  To  his  delicate  fancy  and  ex- 
quisite refinement  we  owe  much  of  the  lovely  detail  in  the 
church  and  cloisters."  6  "  The  Certosa  of  Pavia  is  the  centre 
of  a  school  of  sculpture  that  has  little  in  common  with  the 
Florentine  tradition.  Antonio  Amadeo  and  Andrea  Fusina, 
acting  in  concert  with  Ambrogio  Borgognone  the  painter, 
gave  it  that  character  of  rich  and  complex  decorative  beauty 

6  Julia  Cartwright's  "  Beatrice  d'Este." 


i92  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

which   many   generations   of   artists   were   destined    to   con- 
tinue.    ' 

Lodovico  must  be  granted  full  credit  for  his  continued 
pains  in  engaging  and  keeping  such  aritsts,  and  his  remarka- 
ble liberality  in  practically  giving  them  carte  blanche.  In 
this  spirit  he  completed  the  great  work.  And  now  the  visitor 
sees,  in  the  very  centre  of  its  transept,  the  wonderful  tomb 
to  Lodovico  and  his  wife  that  was  carved  by  Cristoforo 
Solari ;  it  does  not  contain  their  bodies,  but  where  else  could 
it  so  appropriately  lie  as  in  the  midst  of  the  grand  memorial. 

During  the  succeeding  Spanish  regime,  with  the  main 
power  in  the  hands  of  the  priesthood,  the  monastery  steadily 
flourished  and  increased  in  wealth,  until  it  became  by  far  the 
richest  in  the  peninsula.  "  A  gentleman  still  living  at  Milan 
told  me  " —  says  Lady  Morgan  — "  he  perfectly  remembered 
the  Procuratore  of  the  Convent  driving  into  Milan  on  busi- 
ness in  a  splendid  coach  and  four.  These  wealthy  professors 
of  poverty  had  estates  throughout  all  Lombardy.  Their 
tenants  and  farmers  used  to  come  by  hundreds  to  settle  ac- 
counts at  the  convent;  and  the  brotherhood  were  the  most 
enlightened  agriculturists  of  Italy,  at  the  period  of  the  disso- 
lution." 8 

It  was  the  Austrian  rulers  who,  no  longer  able  to  endure 
the  sight  of  such  vast  monastic  riches,  and  perhaps  inspired 
by  covetousness,  finally,  in  1782,  brought  about  that  dissolu- 
tion. "  One  of  the  first  acts  of  the  reforming  system  of 
Joseph  the  Second,  was  the  suppression  of  the  Certosa  of 
Pavia.  The  prior  and  monks  were  pensioned  off. —  Four 
priests  were  appointed  to  officiate  in  the  church  on  Sundays 
and  holidays ;  a  sacristan  was  named  to  watch  over  and  keep 
it  in  order.     Except  a  few  pictures  removed  by  the  Emperor 

7  J.  A.   Symonds'  "  Fine  Arts." 
8 Lady  Morgan's  "Italy,"  Vol.  I. 


THE  MARVELLOUS  CERTOSA  DI  PAVIA     193 

to  Vienna,  and  a  few  by  the  French,  the  church  and  convent 
remain,  rich  and  picturesque,  as  in  the  days  of  their  greatest 
prosperity."  9  Under  the  sway  of  United  Italy  the  Certosa 
has  become  a  most  cherished  national  monument,  guarded 
by  governmental  employes. 

It  was  the  best  fate  that  could  happen  to  it,  for  its  own 
sake  and  the  world's.  Luigi  Villari,  himself  an  Italian, 
spoke  plainly  of  these  convents  of  the  past  generation :  "  A 
great  deal  of  unnecessary  sympathy  has  been  expended,  es- 
pecially abroad,  over  their  suppression.  The  monastic  es- 
tablishments have  very  much  changed  in  character  since  they 
were  founded.  They  are  no  longer  seats  of  learning  and 
study,  or  of  really  religious  life.  Their  inmates  are,  for  the 
most  part,  men  and  women  of  the  crassest  ignorance,  who  felt 
that  they  had  not  the  courage  to  face  the  struggle  for  life. — 
Their  chief  secular  occupations,  when  they  have  any,  consist 
in  tilling  the  soil  around  the  monastery  and  making  liquors. 
Some  of  the  nuns  embroider,  and  make  sweets  and  patent 
medicines.  Many  orders  (as  at  the  Certosa)  do  not  work 
at  all."  10  He  further  revealed  how  they  have  continued  to 
exist,  in  avoidance  of  the  law:  "The  regular  clergy,  in 
spite  of  the  suppression  of  the  monasteries,  are  still  very 
numerous.  These,  as  well  as  the  convents,  are  found  all 
over  the  country,  and,  although  they  do  not  own  as  much 
land  as  they  did  formerly,  they  are  still  rich.  As  legally 
they  are  not  recognised,  their  property  is  held  in  the  name 
of  one  or  two  of  the  monks.  The  members  of  religious 
orders  number  about  40,000  (today,  considerably  more), 
or  a  little  over  one  for  every  1,000  inhabitants."  10a 

9  Lady   Morgan's    "Italy,"    Vol.    I. 

10  Luigi   Villari's  "Italian  Life  in  Town  and   Country." 
10a  Idem. 


194  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

The  famous  ancient  route  from  Milan  to  Pavia,  upon 
which  the  Certosa  was  built,  after  a  long  desuetude  due  to 
the  railroads,  is  once  more  followed  by  travellers,  both  in 
motor-car  and  electric  tram;  and  it  should  be  the  course  of 
any  who  have  time  to  spare,  and  desire  to  travel  with  the 
thoughts  and  objects  of  the  past.  The  railway  of  course  is 
quicker;  but,  starting  from  the  grand  central  station,  it  curves 
around  considerably  to  the  east  and  runs  behind  the  back  of 
the  Certosa's  park;  compelling  the  voyageur  to  make  the  half- 
circuit  of  its  sturdy  walls,  a  distance  of  over  a  mile  upon 
very  bad  roads,  in  order  to  reach  the  front  and  only  entrance 
in  the  middle  of  the  western  side.  Generally,  in  the  warmer 
season,  a  carriage  or  an  omnibus  will  be  found  at  the  sta- 
tion, to  make  the  trip ;  but  this  is  not  reliable,  and  even  after 
carrying  a  passenger  to  the  Certosa's  gate,  the  driver  may  be 
found  missing  when  one  is  ready  to  return.  The  tramway, 
therefore,  is  far  more  trustworthy  and  pleasant.  It  follows 
the  ancient  highway,  which  the  Romans  first  laid  down  to 
their  grand  city  of  Mediolanum  twenty  centuries  ago,  and 
over  which  there  have  poured,  ever  since,  such  countless, 
variegated  hosts  of  travellers.  If  one  could  but  have  a  mov- 
ing picture  of  those  changing  hordes,  century  by  century, 
what  a  wonderful  kaleidoscopic  summary  it  would  present, 
of  the  successive  peoples  and  rulers  of  Lombardy. 

First  the  highroad  between  Rome  and  the  northern  me- 
tropolis, later  the  connecting  link  between  Milan  and  the 
Lombard  capital,  Pavia,  then  in  mediaeval  times  the  avenue 
uniting  those  two  centres  of  Visconti  power  —  their  commer- 
cial capital  with  their  court  and  fortress, —  and  always  the 
great  thoroughfare  of  commerce  between  north  and  south, — 
there  is  certainly  no  stretch  of  highway  in  Europe  that  has 
borne  more  historic  movement  and   seen   more  momentous 


THE  MARVELLOUS  CERTOSA  DI  PAVIA     195 

changes.  What  extraordinary  images  rise  from  the  dead 
past  before  one,  as  he  rides  southward  upon  it, —  what  cav- 
alcades, processions,  caravans,  armies,  barbaric  hosts, —  every 
one  different,  succeeding  each  other  like  shifting  shadows! 

Once  beyond  the  suburbs  of  the  swelling  metropolis,  the 
road  leads  straightaway  through  the  beautiful,  luxuriant 
plain,  whose  very  flatness  yields  broad  views  over  the  smil- 
ing fields,  with  their  varied  crops,  their  clumps  of  shade-trees, 
copses  of  wood,  and  endless  acres  of  gentle  mulberries;  long 
rows  of  stately  trees  make  the  route  itself  into  a  shadowy 
avenue,  and  lines  of  them  far  away  indicate  the  cross-roads; 
while  all  the  time,  close  at  one  side,  runs  a  broad  lane  of 
water,  laden  with  barges  at  frequent  intervals.  It  is  "  that 
canal  which,  with  its  tributary  irrigations,  brings  commerce 
and  fertility  to  the  gates  of  Milan  and  Pavia.  This  great 
work  of  inland  navigation  was  first  struck  out  under  the 
republican  government  of  Milan,  in  1179. —  Under  the 
domination  of  the  Sforzas  the  works  were  continued ;  and  it 
is  supposed  that  the  canal  from  Milan  to  Pavia  was  then 
completed."  xl  Subsequently  fallen  into  neglect  and  disuse, 
until  quite  choked  up,  under  the  wretched  Spanish  rule,  it 
remained  for  Napoleon  the  Great  to  restore  it,  and  pros- 
perity, to  his  Italian  capital. 

Just  halfway  to  Pavia  is  reached  the  little  ancient  village 
of  Binasco,  upon  the  highway  and  canal,  whose  waters  are 
overlooked  by  its  historic  castle  of  the  Visconti,  still  in  fair 
preservation.  Around  this  building  lingers  the  tragic  mem- 
ory of  the  unfortunate  Beatrice  di  Tenda,  the  wife  of 
Filippo  Maria,  last  of  his  race.  "  Here  she  was  imprisoned 
by  a  husband  who  feigned  jealousy  in  order  to  get  rid  of  a 
wife  of  whom  he  was  weary.  Hence  she  was  led  to  execu- 
tion, declaring  her  innocence  (which  none,  not  even  her  hus- 

11  Lady    Morgan's    "  Italy,"   Vol.    I. 


196  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

band,  doubted)  to  the  last."  The  execution  itself  took  place 
at  Milan,  in  the  public  piazza.  No  other  interest,  and  no 
special  beauty,  are  attached  to  this  lonely  fortress,  dismantled 
of  its  mediaeval  furnishings. 

At  the  village  of  Torre  di  Mangano  one  turns  aside  from 
the  highway  and  canal,  to  visit  the  Certosa,  which  lies  a 
thousand  yards  or  so  on  the  east,  at  the  end  of  a  fine,  tree- 
shaded  avenue  of  approach.  I  well  remember  the  emotion 
with  which  I  walked  up  this,  one  beautiful  May  morning, 
thinking  upon  the  countless  great  dead  who  had  made  this 
pilgrimage  before  me.  At  the  end  appeared  the  simple  gate- 
way, in  the  long  white  wall  stretching  far  away  on  each  side, 
faced  by  a  fosse  of  flowing  muddy  water;  two  high  pillars 
crowned  with  crumbling  statues  guarded  the  outer  end  of  a 
short  bridge,  behind  which  rose  a  sort  of  entrance-pavilion, 
arching  the  passage, —  a  single-storied,  stucco  building  with 
wide  eaves  and  an  arcaded  cornice,  whose  facade  still  glowed 
softly  with  the  bright  vestments  of  graceful,  winsome  figures, 
once  painted  there  by  Bernardino  Luini.  They  consisted  of 
two  angels,  four  prophets,  an  Annunciation,  and  a  portentous 
figure  of  God  the  Father,  all  nicely  balanced  and  disposed 
amidst  a  flowering  maze  of  gay  arabesques;  giving  thus  a 
happy  introduction  to  the  wonder-world  within. 

Traversing  the  passage,  in  which  the  ordeal  of  ticket- 
taking  was  performed,  I  emerged  into  a  long,  wide  court- 
yard, surrounded  by  varied  structures.  On  the  right  ex- 
tended an  ugly  baroque  facade,  with  hideous  broken  pilasters 
and  window-frames,  all  in  stucco  imitating  brown  stone, — 
the  so-called  Palazzo  Ducale,  built  in  the  17th  century, 
where  the  prior  was  wont  of  old  to  entertain  prominent  vis- 
itors in  a  princely  fashion.  Upon  the  left  stretched  another 
long  stuccoed  building,  quite  plain,  where  the  commoner 
class  of  pilgrims  were  lodged.     And  at  the  end,  in  tremen- 


THE  MARVELLOUS  CERTOSA  DI  PAVIA     197 

dous,  overpowering  majesty  of  beauty,  soared  the  marvellous, 
incomparable  facade  of  the  Certosa  church, —  overwhelming 
the  observer  by  the  mere  weight  of  its  incredible  richness,  at 
the  same  time  exalting  him  by  its  magnificence,  and  its  many- 
colonnaded,  sky-piercing  dome. 

The  capo  di  lavoro  of  the  Lombard  Renaissance,  the  life- 
work  of  Amadeo,  the  product  of  a  hundred  of  the  most  skil- 
ful chisels,  in  the  hundred  most  artistic  years  of  history,  the 
richest  of  all  lovely  creations  ever  carved  by  man, —  there  it 
stood  before  me,  glowing  in  the  sunlight  in  that  inimitable, 
soft,  creamy  hue  which  age  lends  to  Carrara  marble,  flash- 
ing, scintillating  also,  from  a  thousand  surfaces  of  its  infinite 
sculptures  and  reliefs.  Infinite  is  the  only  word  for  that 
countless  throng  of  statues,  busts,  columns,  arcades,  gables, 
spires, —  that  vast  and  complex  lace-work  of  relievo  —  me- 
dallions, plaques,  arabesques,  panels  of  single  figures,  of 
groups,  and  of  elaborate  tableaux,  designs  of  every  subject 
and  nature  —  which  cover  like  a  glistening  veil  the  whole 
mighty  structure,  a  world  of  fairy  beings  and  flowers  turned 
to  precious  stone. 

It  was,  thus,  the  supreme  type  of  the  earlier  Renaissance 
method  which  obtained  its  effects  mostly  by  surface-decora- 
tion, instead  of  by  harmonies  of  line  or  graces  of  form ;  how- 
ever opulent  its  beauties,  they  were  almost  purely  those  of  the 
incrusted  shell ;  the  fabric  itself,  in  general  shape,  proportions, 
and  openings,  was  not  symmetrical  nor  especially  attractive, 
—  its  lines  were  neither  very  elegant  nor  concentual.  Sy- 
monds  has  written:  "  Strip  a  chapel  of  the  15th  century  of 
ornamental  adjuncts  and  an  uninteresting  shell  is  left;  what, 
for  instance,  would  the  facades  of  the  Certosa  and  the  Cap- 
pella  Colleoni  be  without  their  sculptured  and  inlaid  mar- 
bles? The  genius  of  the  age  found  scope  in  subordinate 
details,   and  the  most  successful  architect  was  a  man  who 


i98  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

combined  in  himself  a  feeling  for  the  capacities  of  the  great- 
est number  of  associated  arts.  As  the  consequence  of  this 
profuse  expenditure  of  loving  care  on  every  detail,  the  monu- 
ments of  architecture  belonging  to  the  earlier  Renaissance 
have  a  poetry  that  compensates  for  structural  defects."  12 
It  was  the  Cappella  Colleoni  upon  which  Amadeo  had  been 
working  whe'n  he  was  called  here  by  Lodovico  Sforza;  and, 
since  he  can  truly  be  called  the  poet  who  sang  in  marble,  the 
facade  of  the  Certosa  must  be  admitted  to  be  his  supreme 
oratorio  maestoso, — as  the  Cappella  at  Bergamo  was  his 
fantasia  capricciosa.13 

The  true  design  here  is  that  of  a  truncated  pyramid,  of 
two  grand  divisions:  the  lower  consisting  of  a  central  door- 
way and  four  quadrangular  windows,  topped  by  an  arcaded 
gallery;  the  upper  consisting  of  a  central  circular  window, 
with  two  double-arched,  blind  windows  at  the  sides,  and 
another  arcaded  gallery,  as  a  sort  of  frieze  to  the  heavy  cor- 
nice. The  two  outer  windows  of  the  lower  row  are  also 
blind.  The  heavy  buttresses  at  the  angles,  draped  in  their 
profusion  of  statues,  terminate  in  empty  canopies  with  elab- 
orate spires,  rising  from  the  shoulders  of  the  fagade.  There 
is,  therefore,  an  utter  confusion  of  styles:  Lombard  roman- 
esque  in  the  general  form  and  the  arcaded  galleries,  gothic 
in  the  rose-window,  corner  buttresses  and  pinnacles,  renais- 

12  J.  A.   Symonds'  "  Fine  Arts,"   Chap.   II. 

13  Though  the  first  designer  of  the  Certosa  in  general  was  Ber- 
nardo da  Venezia,  in  1453  he  was  succeeded  by  Guiniforte  Solari, 
under  whom  the  facade  was  commenced,  and  the  nave  and  cloisters 
completed.  In  1463  Cristoforo  Mantegazza  began  to  add  his  la- 
bours, and  in  1473,  with  the  aid  of  his  brother  Antonio,  continued 
the  erection  of  the  facade;  to  these  goldsmith-sculptors  is  due  much 
of  its  minute  decoration.  Amadeo,  who  finished  the  designs  of  the 
fagade,  worked  from  1466  onward;  being  succeeded  in  time  by 
Benedetto  Briosco. 


THE  MARVELLOUS  CERTOSA  DI  PAVIA      199 

sance  in  all  the  other  features, —  intermingled  without  rhyme 
or  reason.  As  Mr.  Street  has  put  it:  "  The  west  front  is 
—  of  a  kind  of  design  which  seems  to  have  proceeded  upon 
the  principle  of  setting  all  established  architectural  styles 
and  customs  at  defiance.  This  may  be  said  of  the  whole 
church,  which  is  a  kind  of  mixture  of  Lombard  romanesque 
features  with  some  pointed,  and  no  slight  dash  of  the  re- 
naissance spirit;  altogether  a  most  magnificent  hybrid,  but 
certainly  a  hybrid."  14> 

Yet,  in  spite  of  all  the  foregoing,  so  prodigious  and  so 
voluptuous  is  the  wealth  of  decoration  flung  over  the  whole 
face  like  a  veil,  causing  every  part  and  every  detail  to  glis- 
ten like  a  brooch  of  jewels,  that  the  faults  of  design  are  quite 
obscured  by  its  magnificence  and  the  observer  stands  in  won- 
der before  its  beauty.  He  loses  himself  in  admiration  at 
every  separate  exquisite  item.  The  glow  of  the  great  mass 
of  marble  against  the  blue  Italian  sky,  is  itself  a  joy,  that 
no  northern  clime  could  render.  Each  window  is  a  separate 
poem  in  precious  stone,  sculped  by  the  hand  of  Amadeo  him- 
self. Those  of  the  lower  row  have  ornate  rectangular 
frames,  enclosing  double  arches  supported  by  tall,  extremely 
slender  columns  in  the  form  of  candelabra  —  one  in  the  mid- 
dle and  one  against  each  jamb  —  that  are  of  the  most  opulent 
carving  imaginable :  a  succession  of  delicate  vases,  surrounded 
and  borne  by  tiny  figures,  draped  in  a  vine-work  of  daintiest 
designs, —  and  every  column  quite  different  from  all  the 
others.  Delicious  arabesques  run  around  the  frame;  elab- 
orate festoons  constitute  the  frieze;  upon  the  cornices  are 
extraordinary,  detached,  open-work  pediments,  composed  of 
griffins,  dragons,  sphynxes,  birds,  angels,  etc.,  amidst  in- 
tricate convolutions;  and  beside  the  frames  are  perpendicular 

14  Street's  "  Brick  and  Marble  Architecture  in  the  Middle  Ages," 
Chap.  IX. 


200  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

rows  of  square  plaques,  adorned  separately  with  busts,  shields 
and  many  varied  devices. 

Underneath  these  windows,  all  along  the  base,  extends  one 
of  the  most  enriching  features,  a  series  of  rectangular  panels 
of  reliefs,  four  to  five  feet  in  height  and  three  in  width; 
some  of  them  contain  single  figures  of  seated  prophets,  the 
majority  represent  scenes  from  the  New  Testament, —  now 
much  injured,  but  still,  in  great  part,  exhibiting  the  peculiar 
charm  of  the  work  of  the  Mantegazza.  They  are  filled  with 
graceful,  long-hosed  youths  of  the  later  quattrocento  mode. 
Still  lower,  along  the  plinth  of  the  facade,  runs  an  unbroken 
row  of  relieved  medallions,  about  a  foot  and  a  half  in  diam- 
eter, bearing  the  profile-heads  of  old  Roman  and  other  classic 
heroes,  in  excellent  imitation  of  ancient  coins.  The  whole 
facade  is  vertically  divided  into  five  compartments,  by  four 
buttresses  hardly  a  third  the  stoutness  of  those  at  the  angles, 
faced  to  the  top  with  one  lifesize  statue  above  another. 

These  separate  the  window-spaces;  and  in  the  central, 
widest  compartment,  stands  the  stately,  classic  portal,  the 
work  of  Benedetto  Briosco,  consisting  of  a  shallow  archway 
some  35  feet  in  height,  sustained  by  two  pairs  of  large  de- 
tached corinthian  columns,  with  a  broad  entablature;  the 
frieze  and  spandrels  carry  the  usual  profusion  of  foliated  de- 
signs; the  lunette  within,  over  the  square-headed  doorway, 
holds  a  throned  Madonna  of  lifesize,  between  four  kneeling 
saints;  and  the  soffit  also  is  embellished,  with  figures  of  the 
Saviour,  the  Madonna  (really  charming)  and  Sts.  Peter, 
Andrew  and  John  the  Baptist,  On  reaching  this  entrance, 
I  further  observed,  to  right  and  left  upon  the  opposing  walls, 
a  wealth  of  relievo  surpassing  anything  on  the  facade, — 
magnificent  in  its  multitude  of  figured  pictures  and  delicate 
ornamentation,  at  the  same  time  of  a  superior  quality.  Here 
were  the  four  famous  scenes  by  Agostini  Busti,  from  the  life 


THE  MARVELLOUS  CERTOSA  DI  PAVIA     201 

of  the  Certosa's  founder, —  two  on  each  side,  one  above  the 
other  —  framed  in  a  vine-work  of  surpassing  realism,  whose 
successive,  interlacing  ovals  enclosed  two  parallel  upright 
rows,  at  the  sides,  of  the  most  delightful  little  tableaux  from 
New  Testament  history.  The  latter  were  carved  by 
Amadeo,  and  in  his  best  style. 

All  of  these  were  in  the  finest  manner  of  the  late  quattro- 
cento, and  but  little  damaged;  the  large  panels  being  not  so 
well  composed  as  the  small  scenes,  yet  very  striking,  and  filled 
with  youthful  figures  in  high-Renaissance  costume,  of  remark- 
able grace  and  beauty.  To  right,  above,  was  Gian  Galeazzo 
amidst  his  court,  giving  the  first  orders  for  the  building  of 
the  Certosa,  and  below,  his  inspection  of  its  completed  model, 
at  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone;  to  left,  above,  was  shown 
the  dedication  of  the  church,  and  below,  the  imposing  funeral 
cortege  which  transported  the  founder's  body  from  Milan, 
in  1474.  The  numerous  little  tableaux  were  still  better, 
in  grouping,  perspective,  realism  of  form  and  disposition,  and 
graceful,  expressive  action ;  they  could  have  come  only  from 
such  a  genius  as  was  Amadeo,  and  were  genuine  gems  of 
sculpture.  The  vines  enfolding  them  were  also  of  unique 
beauty  and  skill,  with  their  perfectly  natural  stalks,  leaves 
and  tendrils. 

Before  entering  I  made  the  round  of  the  church,  finding 
the  sides,  though  not  marbled  like  the  face,  of  splendid 
finish  and  attractiveness.  From  the  left  I  examined  the 
lofty  brick  nave,  with  its  two  descending  steps  from  the 
ridge  to  the  lower  roofs  of  the  aisle  and  side  chapels, —  the 
latter  supported  by  outer  buttresses  at  short  intervals,  capped 
by  open-work  renaissance  spires;  and  along  the  red  sides  of 
nave  and  aisle,  continuing  around  upon  the  transept,  ran 
two  handsome  galleries  of  brick  arches  upon  gleaming  marble 
columns,   crowned  by   rich   terra-cotta  and   grey  stone  cor- 


202  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

nices ; —  again  the  Lombard  romanesque,  but  very  decorative 
in  its  effect.  The  upper  arcade  was  continued  entirely 
around  the  transept,  and  the  choir  also;  the  lower  one  re- 
appeared only  under  the  cornices  of  the  triple  apses  that 
enclosed  the  ends  of  both  choir  and  transept.  Those 
ends  were  further  adorned  by  gables  tipped  with  triple 
pinnacles, —  of  open-work  light-grey  stone,  like  all  the 
others, —  and  by  windows  framed  in  beautiful,  spiral, 
brick  mouldings.  But  the  one  great  feature,  which  domin- 
ated from  afar  the  whole  vast  mass  of  the  building,  giving 
it  majesty,  picturesqueness,  and  distinctive  character,  was 
the  enormous  central  tower,  rising  about  the  hidden 
dome  in  tier  after  tier  of  receding  colonnades  of  glistening 
white  stone ;  there  were  four  of  these  imposing  stages,  octag- 
onal in  shape,  the  topmost  becoming  a  lofty  open  belfry, 
within  a  balustrade,  surmounted  by  a  gilt  ball  and  cross, 
which  flash  at  sunset  for  many  miles  across  the  plain. 

What  a  contrast  to  all  this  pseudo-classic  construction  was 
it,  when  I  entered  at  last,  and  found  a  sublime  gothic 
cathedral  towering  above  me,  with  mighty  clustered  columns 
and  aspiring,  pointed  arches!15  A  sense  of  majesty  and 
beauty  of  form,  of  harmony  of  lines  and  uncluttered  spa- 
ciousness, immediately  took  possession  of  me.  Afar  stretched 
the  polished  mosaic  pavement  like  a  waveless  sea,  from  whose 
depths  emerged  at  wide  intervals  only  the  stately  gothic 
piers,  permitting  the  unhindered  gaze  to  roam  freely  down 
the  dusky  aisles,  into  the  duskier  side  chapels,  into  the  recess 
of  the  distant  choir;  but  the  latter  was  guarded  to  a  third 
its  height  by  a  sculptured  rood-loft  of  glistening  marbles, 
statue-crowned,  and  the  wide  transept  was  partially  ob- 
is This  pointed  construction,  as  well  as  the  gothic  features  of 
the  facade,  was  of  course  the  work  of  Bernardo  da  Venezia,  before 
the  Lombard  Renaissance  commenced. 


THE  MARVELLOUS  CERTOSA  DI  PAVIA     203 

scured  by  a  handsome  bronze  railing  reaching  from  wall  to 
wall  at  the  end  of  the  nave.  The  prevailing  dimness,  too, 
was  counteracted  by  the  glowing  pinkish  hue  of  the  whole 
immense  edifice,  whose  pillars,  walls  and  arches  were  built 
of  a  hard  stone  of  that  colour;  and  the  vaulting  was  still 
brighter,  its  groined  bays  glistening  with  prominent  white 
ribs,  its  cells  with  painted  designs,  and  golden  stars  on  blue 
fields.  The  light  that  entered  fell  softly  down  from  quatre- 
foil  windows  in  diamond  frames,  set  high  in  the  walls  of 
the  lofty  aisles,  and  from  the  splendid  dome,  with  its  octag- 
onal colonnaded  drum  of  black  and  white  arches,  surmounted 
by  a  modern  paradise  of  giant,  frescoed  figures. 

All  this  gothic  construction  was  the  primary  work,  of  the 
earlier  part  of  the  quattrocento,  following  the  original  plans 
and  orders  of  Gian  Galeazzo, —  who  had  adopted  the  same 
style  for  his  Milan  Cathedral.  I  saw  the  first  changes  to 
the  renaissance  manner  in  the  entrances  to  the  side  chapels, 
whose  low,  round  arches  were  set  in  frames  that  betrayed 
the  classic  revival.  Over  them  extended  a  row  of  curious 
blind  windows  of  double  trefoil  arches  with  painted  backs. 
Within,  these  chapels  opened  freely  into  each  other  by  con- 
necting archways,  like  a  continuous  gallery;  they  were  shut 
off  from  the  nave  by  high  iron  railings  with  closed  gates. 

The  entrance  to  this  artistic  wilderness  was  guarded  by 
a  governmental  employe  in  uniform,  who  took  the  tickets; 
and  others  waited  to  act  as  guides  to  the  visitors,  who  are 
not  allowed  to  walk  around  alone.  I  was  fortunate  in 
securing  a  guide  to  myself,  by  offering  a  sufficient  bonus; 
and  we  started  out  on  the  customary  route,  through  the  line 
of  chapels  on  the  left.  Their  rich  decorations  and  altars, 
as  I  had  expected,  were  Renaissance-work,  and  more  than 
that,  of  the  decadent  Renaissance.  The  pala  of  the  second 
chapel  was  a  polyptich  once  executed  by  Perugino,  in  which 


204  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

the  figure  of  God  the  Father  still  remained  of  his  work,  but 
the  other  five  divisions  were  now  only  copies, —  their  originals 
being  familiar  sights  of  the  National  Gallery  at  London. 
From  here,  then,  came  that  beautiful  St.  Michael  standing 
astride  behind  his  rested  shield,  that  other  archangel  with 
Tobias,  and  that  lovely  Madonna  adoring  the  Child  upon 
the  white  sack.  To  right  and  left  above  this  pala  were 
two  pairs  of  saints,  the  Fathers  of  the  Church,  by  Bor- 
gognone, —  half-figures  in  a  greyish  tone ;  and  in  the  sixth 
chapel  was  his  St.  Ambrose  between  four  other  saints, — 
youthful  figures,  of  that  delightful,  polished  grace  and  charm 
which  he  so  well  knew  how  to  portray. 

We  passed  through  the  fine  bronze  screen  —  a  seicento 
work  —  into  the  left  transept :  and  there,  before  me  in  the 
centre  of  its  glistening  pavement,  lay  the  renowned  tomb 
of  Lodovico  Sforza  and  his  wife.  I  saw  a  low,  rectangular 
block  of  creamy  marble,  only  about  two  feet  high,  upon 
which  lay  the  apparently  real,  sleeping  forms  of  those  famous 
personages,  side  by  side,  with  folded  hands,  so  vividly  life- 
like in  face,  body  and  costume,  that  their  bosoms  seemed 
to  move  with  respirations.  He  was  clad  in  full  armour, 
covered  with  a  ducal  surtout  draped  with  marvellous  vrai- 
semblance,  his  head  bared,  with  evenly  flowing  hair  reaching 
to  the  neck,  his  clear-cut,  distinguished  features  marked 
with  all  their  characteristics  of  high  birth,  power  and  intel- 
lectuality. Her  pretty  petite  figure,  considerably  shorter 
than  her  lord's,  was  clothed  in  a  long-trained  gown,  trimmed 
with  wide-woven  net,  and  draped  with  extraordinary  real- 
ism,—  her  hair  hidden  by  a  coif,  excepting  its  front  curls 
and  the  two  long  locks  descending  upon  her  bosom ;  and  her 
ingenue  countenance,  with  its  plump  cheeks  and  slightly 
tipped  nose,  was  clearly  a  faithful  portrait,  revealing  with 
wondrous  skill  the  duchess  who  was  still  a  child,  but  who 


THE  MARVELLOUS  CERTOSA  DI  PAVIA     205 

had  suffered  in  a  few  years  all  the  pains  of  a  mother,  all 
the   heart-burnings  of   a   forsaken   wife. 

This,  then,  was  the  merry,  vivacious,  delightful  Beatrice 
d'Este,  the  learned,  romantic,  typical  woman  of  the  Renais- 
sance, the  friend  of  poets,  the  entertainer  of  princes,  the 
lover'  of  the  beautiful,  the  correspondent  of  the  erudite,  the 
patron  of  artists,  the  collector  of  objets  d'art, —  this  pathetic, 
weary  little  form  sleeping  like  a  child.  Could  it  really  be 
she,  who  was  "  the  type  of  that  new-found  joy  in  life,  that 
intoxicating  rapture  in  the  actual  sense  of  existence,  that 
was  the  heritage  of  her  generation  ?  "  As  I  gazed,  I  seemed 
to  see  again  "  this  bride  of  the  summers,  flinging  herself 
with  passionate  delight  into  every  amusement,  singing  gay 
songs  with  her  courtiers,  dancing  and  hunting  through  the 
livelong  day,  outstripping  all  her  companions  in  the  chase, 
and  laughing  in  the  face  of  danger. —  Scholars  and  poets, 
painters  and  writers,  gallant  soldiers  and  accomplished  cav- 
aliers,—  we  see  them  all  at  Beatrice's  feet,  striving  how  best 
they  may  gratify  her  fancies  and  win  her  smiles. — A  year 
or  two  passes,  and  we  see  her,  royally  arrayed  in  brocade 
and  jewels,  standing  up  in  the  great  council-hall  of  Venice, 
to  plead  her  husband's  cause  before  the  Doge  and  Senate. 
Later  on,  we  find  her  sharing  her  lord's  counsels  in  court 
and  camp,  receiving  king  and  emperor  at  Pavia  or  Vigevano, 
fascinating  the  susceptible  heart  of  Charles  VIII  by  her 
charms,  and  annoying  Kaiser  Maximilian  by  her  wisdom 
and  judgment  in  affairs  of  state."  16 

Yet  in  spite  of  all  this,  Lodovico's  love  seemed  to  weaken 
and  grow  cool,  as  is  the  way  of  princes,  and  he  turned  for 
fresh  amusement  to  the  charms  of  Lucrezia  Crivelli ;  — "  a 
thing  which  caused  Beatrice  the  most  bitter  anguish  of  mind, 
but  could  not  alter  her  love  for  him."     Only  a  few  months 

10  Julia  Cartwright's  "  Beatrice  d'Este." 


206  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

later,  and  she  was  dead, —  died  in  giving  birth  to  her  third 
child,  on  Jany.  2,  1497.  "  Then  suddenly  the  music  and 
dancing,  the  feasting  and  travelling,  cease,  and  the  richly 
coloured  and  animated  pageant  is  brought  to  an  abrupt 
close.  Beatrice  dies,  without  a  moment's  warning,  in  the 
flower  of  youth  and  beauty;  and  the  young  Duchess 
is  borne  to  her  grave  in  S.  Maria  delle  Grazie  amid  the 
tears  and  lamentations  of  all  Milan.  And  with  her  death, 
the  whole  Milanese  state,  that  fabric  which  Lodovico  Sforza 
has  built  up  at  such  infinite  cost  and  pains,  crumbles  into 
ruin.  Fortune,  which  till  that  hour  had  smiled  so  kindly 
on  the  Moro,  and  raised  him  to  giddy  heights  of  prosperity, 
now  turned  her  back  upon  him.  In  three  short  years  he  lost 
everything  —  crown,  home,  and  liberty, —  and  was  left  to 
drag  out  a  miserable  existence  in  the  dungeons  of  Berry  and 
Touraine."  l6a 

All  Lodovico's  actions  in  those  three  fateful  years  proved 
that  he  had  not  really  lost  his  love  for  his  charming  wife, 
but  that  he  mourned  her  loss  with  a  bitterness  which  was 
intensely  aggravated  by  remorse  for  his  faithless  conduct,  and 
for  the  grief  that  had  saddened  her  closing  days.  "  From 
that  time  —  adds  Marino  Sanuto  (a  contemporary  chron- 
icler) the  Duke  began  to  be  sore  troubled,  and  to  suffer 
great  woes. —  Beatrice  was  gone;  and  with  her,  all  the  joy 
and  delight  of  the  Duke's  life  had  passed  away.  The  court 
was  turned  from  an  earthly  paradise  into  the  blackest  hell, 
and  ruin  overtook  the  Moro  and  the  whole  realm  of  Milan." 
He  caused  Cristoforo  Solari  to  erect  over  her  tomb  in  S. 
Maria  delle  Grazie  a  magnificent  memorial,  under  which 
he  destined  himself  eventually  to  lie  by  her  side;  these  two 
carven  figures  were  but  a  portion  of  it.  Often  he  left  his 
palace,  in  the  most  troublous  hours,  to  go  and  pray  beside 

18a  Julia  Cartwright's  "Beatrice  d'Este." 


THE  MARVELLOUS  CERTOSA  DI  PAVIA     207 

it,  alone  in  the  dusk,  weeping  for  his  bride;  and  in  the  last 
great  cataclysm,  when  he  was  forced  to  leave  his  capital  by 
the  advancing  French,  at  the  ultimate  moment  he  tarried 
amid  the  danger  to  pay  a  final  visit  to  Beatrice's  grave,  to 
pray  by  her  side  for  a  final  time,  and  take  a  last  look  at 
this  beloved  face  and  form.  On  leaving,  "  three  times  he 
turned  around,  while  the  tears  streamed  down  his  face;" 
then  passed  away  forever. 

A  half  century  later,  when  the  Sforza  rulers  were  already 
forgotten  by  a  changing  world,  the  monument  of  Beatrice 
was  removed  from  the  choir  of  S.  Maria  delle  Grazie,  by 
its  prior's  order,  taken  to  pieces,  and  offered  for  sale.  The 
monks  of  the  Certosa,  who  alone  preserved  a  grateful  re- 
membrance of  their  munificent  patron,  then  sent  an  agent 
to  purchase  the  tomb's  principal  beauty, —  its  effigies  of  the 
great  dead.  Thus  did  the  sole  memorial  of  Lodovico  and 
Beatrice  come  reverently  to  rest  forever  in  the  glorious 
mausoleum  which  he  had  given  so  much  of  his  life  to 
completing.  And  to  these,  their  living  likenesses,  so  for- 
tunately immortalised  by  the  great  sculptor's  chisel,  as 
Symonds  has  well  said,  "  the  palm  of  excellence  in  art  and 
of  historical  interest  must  be  awarded.  Sculpture  has  rarely 
been  more  dignified  and  true  to  life  than  here. — Attired  in 
ducal  robes,  they  lie  in  state;  and  the  sculptor  has  carved 
the  lashes  on  their  eyelids,  heavy  with  death's  marmoreal 
sleep."  17 

On  raising  my  eyes  at  last,  and  looking  about  the  transept, 
I  noticed  at  once  its  marked  difference  from  the  superb, 
aspiring  nave ;  for  here  the  renaissance  forms  had  usurped  the 
place  of  the  gothic, —  from  the  broad,  rounded  arches  of  the 
triple  apses  at  each  end,  to  the  over-decorated  baroque  screen 
of  coloured  marbles  before  the  choir.     The  latter's  design 

17  J.  A.   Symonds'   "  Sketches  and  Studies  in  Italy." 


208  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

consisted  of  handsome  monolithic  columns  in  pairs,  standing 
upon  a  high  base  and  crowned  by  a  rich  entablature,  with 
statues  between  the  pairs  and  on  the  cornice.  There  were 
Renaissance  frescoes  here,  too,  upon  the  upper  part  of  the 
left  end-wall, — remaining  portions  of  the  extensive  works  with 
which  Borgognone  in  his  earlier  years  embellished  the  whole 
place,  at  Lodovico's  command.  The  half-dome  of  the  central 
apse  held  a  large  Coronation  of  the  Virgin,  with  two  striking 
personages  in  quattrocento  costume  kneeling  at  the  sides, — 
men  of  strong,  bold  faces  and  fierce,  hooked  noses  —  the 
Moro  and  his  father  Francesco;  to  right  and  left  of  this 
tableau  were  two  pairs  of  giant  saints, —  Ambrose  and  Peter 
Martyr,  the  Georges,  father  and  son;  and  above  it,  next 
the  vaulting,  were  two  angels  bearing  festoons  of  fruit,  from 
the  hand  of  Bramante.  Before  the  late-Renaissance  altar 
stood  one  of  A.  Fontana's  exquisite  bronze  candelabra,  exe- 
cuted about  1.580. 

But  the  chief  object  of  beauty  and  interest  here,  next  to 
Solari's  monument,  was  the  superb  marble  doorway  in  the 
rear  wall  near  the  choir,  leading  to  the  old  sacristy, —  one 
of  the  three  carved  here  by  Amadeo,  which  are  reckoned 
amongst  the  few  greatest  treasures  of  the  Certosa,  and  the 
few  loveliest  productions  of  the  master.  Here  again  the 
beauty  lay  in  the  flashing  wealth  of  decoration,  rather  than 
in  the  lines  of  the  design.  The  latter  consisted  of  an  arch- 
way gently  recessed,  supported  by  corinthian  pilasters,  carry- 
ing a  broad  architrave  and  pediment.  Upon  the  inward 
slope  from  the  pilasters,  and  on  that  of  the  arch,  were  vari- 
ous carved  figures  in  niches  and  panels,  including  several 
charming  groups  of  singing  angels;  the  lunette  over  the 
doorway  proper  held  an  attractive  relief  of  the  Resurrection ; 
the  spandrels  were  ornamented  with  busts,  the  frieze,  with 
four  medallions,  containing  portrait-heads  of  the  four  Sforza 


THE  MARVELLOUS  CERTOSA  DI  PAVIA     209 

Dukes,  up  to  and  including  Lodovico;  in  the  triangular 
pediment  above  the  rich  cornice  was  a  larger  relieved  figure, 
of  some  holy  personage,  and  surmounting  the  pediment,  at 
its  corners  and  apex,  were  three  more  medallions  with  the 
heads  of  the  final  Visconti  Dukes.  All  these  sculptured 
portraits  were  done,  not  only  with  remarkable  faithfulness 
and  lifelikeness,  but  with  that  extraordinary  decorative  effect 
which  never  left  Amadeo's  mind.  It  is  unnecessary  to  add, 
that  all  over  the  faces  of  the  pilasters  and  archway,  wherever 
the  various  panels  and  figures  had  allowed  an  inch  of  space, 
was  draped  a  vesture  of  the  most  elaborate  arabesque  and 
dainty   devices. 

Entering  the  old  sacristy,  I  found  there  the  celebrated 
large  gothic  reredos,  carved  from  ivory  by  Bernardo  degli 
Ubbriachi  of  Florence,  which  was  originally  intended  for 
the  Certosa's  high-altar;  a  work  marvellous  for  the  amount 
of  delicate  skill  expended  upon  it.  Made  about  1400,  it 
is  thoroughly  gothic  in  spirit  and  detail, —  and  even  more 
antique  in  the  execution  of  its  67  minute,  figured  tableaux, 
whose  forms  and  grouping  are  almost  archaic;  64  of  these 
are  collected  within  the  three  pointed  arches  of  the  tryptich, 
picturing  the  lives  of  the  Saviour  and  the  Madonna;  the 
others  are  medallions  occupying  its  gables.  Along  the  base 
and  between  the  clustered  columns  at  the  angles  are  also 
a  great  many  statuettes  set  in  niches;  and  all  the  fine  archi- 
tectural details  are  not  only  exquisitely  shaped,  and  carved 
with  foliated  designs,  but  they  are  furthermore  embellished 
by  tarslatura.  Above  this  upon  the  wall  I  saw  a  handsome 
canvas  by  Borgognone,  representing  St.  Augustine. 

Entering  now  the  choir,  I  examined  its  present  high-altar, 
which  is  a  work  of  the  middle  cinquecento,  by  Ambrogio 
Volpi.  Upon  it  stood  two  very  lovely  angels,  carved  by 
Tommaso   Orsolini   a   century   later;   but   still   lovelier  was 


210  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

the  small  medallion  affixed  to  the  centre  of  its  face,  cut  with 
a  minute  relief  of  the  Descent  from  the  Cross  by  Cristoforo 
Solari, —  or,  as  Mr.  Perkins  says,  by  Amadeo.18  The  pave- 
ment here  was  a  beautiful  cinquecento  mosaic.  On  both 
sides  stretched  magnificent  choir-stalls  of  the  same  period, 
carved  by  Pietro  di  Vellata,  with  rich  ornamentation  by 
Bart,  de'  Polli  of  Mantua;  the  latter's  fine  tarsia-pictures 
upon  the  backs  of  the  seats,  with  their  stately  figures  of 
prophets,  apostles,  martyrs,  and  doctors  of  the  Church,  all 
slightly  emphasised  by  gilding,  were  still  another  evidence 
of  the  countless  first-class  artists  of  that  wonderful  age 
whose  names  today  are  almost  unknown.  The  oak  doors 
in  the  choir-screen  were  themselves  a  treasure  of  the  cinque- 
cento, each  splendidly  carved  with  three  scenes  from  the  life 
of  the  Saviour,  with  much  surrounding  decoration,  by  Theo- 
dore Fries  of  Brussels. 

Beautiful  as  all  these  things  were, —  impressive  as  were 
the  great  stained  glass  windows,  the  deep-hued  later  frescoes 
beside  them,  the  classic  marble  tempietti  beyond  the  choir- 
stalls,  holding  lifesize  statues  of  saints,  the  gallery  sweeping 
around  far  overhead,  embellished  with  triple  gothic  windows, 
—  still  the  supreme  features  of  this  gorgeous  choir  remain  to 
be  mentioned :  they  were  two  wonderful  marble  structures 
placed  against  the  rear  wall,  at  the  opposite  angles  of  the 
central  apse,  rising  to  a  height  of  some  twenty  feet  with  a 
width  of  five  feet,  each  one  an  astonishing  mass  of  lovely 
sculpture  from  top  to  bottom.  They  may  have  been  in- 
tended for  reredoses,  or  for  holy-water  temples,  or  constructed 
purely  for  ornament ;  at  any  rate,  nothing  more  delightful  in 
high-Renaissance  work  could  be  easily  found.  Each  is  built 
in  five  stages,  in  a  sort  of  architectural  scheme  consisting  of 
double   bases,   open   loggia,   entablature   and   pediment;   the 

18  Perkins'  "  Italian  Sculptors." 


THE  MARVELLOUS  CERTOSA  DI  PAVIA     211 

apex  being  crowned  by  a  further  group  of  relieved  figures 
against  the  plaster  of  the  wall, —  the  Saviour,  or  the  Ma- 
donna, in  a  vesica  piscis,  surrounded  by  charming  angels 
making  melody.  One  structure  is  thus  devoted  to  the  life 
of  the  Saviour,  the  other  to  that  of  the  Virgin;  but  the 
reliefs  are  agreeably  varied  by  the  pilasters  of  the  different 
stages,  which  divide  them  into  three  unequal  compartments, 
and  by  the  different  couples  of  angels  and  putti  that  hold 
aside  concealing  curtains.  Biagio  da  Vairone  executed  the 
one,  Stefano  da  Sesto  the  other, —  but  at  the  same  time,  in 
15 13;  and  they  are  equally  beautiful  in  design,  in  exquisite 
grace  of  figures,  and  composition, —  equally  luxuriant  in 
detailed  adornment,  and  voluptuous  in  wealth  of  imagery. 

Entering  now  the  right  transept,  my  attention  was  first 
captivated  by  the  magnificent  tomb  of  the  Certosa's  founder, 
which  occupied  upon  this  side  the  same  relative  position  on 
the  floor  that  the  monument  of  Lodovico  Sforza  occupied 
on  the  other.  The  Visconti  and  the  Sforza,  the  founder  and 
the  finisher,  the  two  greatest  rulers  of  their  respective  dynas- 
ties,—  how  fitting  it  was  that  they  should  so  lie  opposite, 
dominating  the  two  transepts  of  their  immortal  shrine. 
But  Gian  Galeazzo's  monument  was  entire, —  one  of  the 
most  splendid  of  the  Renaissance  ever  conceived ;  for  it  was 
not  constructed  in  the  gothic  style  of  his  period,  but  was 
designed  nearly  a  century  after  his  death,  by  Galeazzo  Pelle- 
grini ;  its  execution  hav'ng  been  begun  by  Cristoforo  Romano 
and  Benedetto  Briosco  (who  also  carved  some  of  the  reliefs 
on  the  base  of  the  facade)  and  completed  about  1560  by 
Gab.  Alessi  and  several  helpers.  Giacomo  della  Porta, 
Nardino  Novi,  and  a  number  of  other  excellent  sculptors, 
also  worked  upon  it.  It  consists,  in  a  word,  of  a  two- 
storied  rectangular  canopy  covering  a  sarcophagus,  the  sec- 
ond  story  being  apparently  solid   in   construction,   with   its 


212  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

sides  devoted  to  statues  and  reliefs.  It  is  about  10  feet  in 
length,  5  in  breadth,  and  20  in  height;  is  built  entirely  of 
Parian  marble,  and  surrounded  by  a  fanciful  iron  railing. 

The  proportions  of  this  splendid  masterpiece  are  ideal,  its 
lines  delightfully  graceful  and  harmonious,  its  glowing  beauty 
enhanced' by  the  absence  of  that  over-decoration  which  dis- 
tinguished the  school  of  Amadeo.  It  stands  upon  a  plain 
base  about  a  foot  in  height;  from  this  rise  the  canopy's  six 
supporting  piers,  faced  with  corinthian  pilasters,  and  con- 
nected by  round  arches;  within  these  lies  the  rounded 
sarcophagus,  capped  by  a  rectangular  lid  longer  and  broader 
than  its  body,  upon  which,  between  two  lifesize  winged 
angels  sitting  at  the  head  and  feet,  reclines  the  armoured 
figure  of  the  great  despot,  in  his  ducal  robes.  These  slender, 
very  charming  angels,  holding  the  emblems  of  Fame  and 
Victory,  were  the  work  of  Nardino  Novi.  The  tyrant's 
form  appears  tall  and  heavy-shouldered,  the  head  distin- 
guished by  the  peculiar  hair-dress  of  his  period, —  curled  like 
a  fillet  about  the  brows  and  descending  to  the  nape  of  the 
neck  —  and  by  a  short  pointed  beard,  with  absence  of  mous- 
taches. The  large,  full-throated  features  are  plainly  marked 
by  the  passions,  troubles  and  ambitions  that  made  his  life 
such  a  torrent  of  agitations;  the  lips  are  firmly  compressed, 
and  the  brows  still  meet  in  a  painful  frown  above  the  prom- 
inent,  pointed   nose. 

Along  the  tops  of  the  arches  and  pilasters  runs  a  most 
lovely  frieze,  of  flowered  festoons  intersected  by  shields  of 
arms, —  which  is  crowned  in  turn  by  a  delicately  wrought 
cornice.  In  the  middle  of  the  front  side  of  the  upper  storey 
stands  a  pleasing,  lifesize  statue  of  the  Madonna  holding 
her  Child,  before  a  shell-like  niche;  in  the  middle  of  the 
rear  side  stands  a  smaller  statue  of  Gian  Galeazzo  himself; 
on  each  hand  of  these  figures,  and  at  the  ends,  are  a  series 


THE  MARVELLOUS  CERTOSA  DI  PAVIA     213 

of  excellent  reliefs  depicting  scenes  from  the  conqueror's 
life,  enclosed  between  pretty  pilasters  with  arabesqued  faces, 
and  topped  by  garlands  of  flowers.  All  around  upon  the 
cornice  are  posed  statuettes  in  antique  costume,  four  or  five 
to  each  longer  side,  interspersed  with  short  candelabra 
guarded  by  little  twin  sphynxes.  Further  classic  ornamenta- 
tion lies  in  the  Roman  arms  interlaced  in  the  arabesques 
upon  the  faces  of  the  lower  pilasters,  which  are  really  quite 
effective.  The  whole  monument  is  delightful.  A  curious 
thing  about  it  is,  that  it  does  not,  like  the  Sforza's  tomb 
opposite,  contain  the  remains  of  Gian  Galeazzo, —  although 
they  had  been  brought  to  the  Certosa  in  solemn  procession 
for  just  such  a  consignment.  But  ninety  years  had  elapsed 
since  that  ceremony,  when  the  memorial  was  completed; 
and  the  friars,  upon  looking  for  the  place  of  temporary 
interment,  found  to  their  amazement  and  perplexity  that  it 
had  been  totally  forgotten.  So  the  greatest  of  mediaeval 
despots  to  this  day  sleeps  in  some  neglected  corner. 

He  is  represented  also  by  a  painting  in  this  transept:  in 
the  upper  portion  of  the  central  apse  —  balancing  the  op- 
posite fresco  of  the  two  Sforzas,  at  the  other  end  —  I  saw 
Borgognone's  picture  of  the  mighty  Visconti  with  his  two 
sons,  kneeling  before  the  Madonna;  he  holds  in  his  hands 
the  model  of  the  Certosa  church,  thus  indicating  its  dedica- 
tion to  her  name.  To  right  and  left  of  this  were  two  more 
pairs  of  Borgognone's  giant  saints,  and  above  it,  another 
pair  of  Bramante's  angels.  But  the  chief  beauties  here,  after 
Gian  Galeazzo's  tomb,  were  the  two  other  celebrated  door- 
ways of  Amadeo, —  both  cut,  like  the  first  one,  entirely  from 
a  glowing,  creamy-white  marble,,  and  both  likewise  supremely 
decorative,  with  a  great  wealth  of  luxuriant  carvings.  One 
of  them  opened  into  the  friars'  Lavabo  —  or  lavatory  —  just 
to  the  right  of  the  choir;  it  was  of  the  same  general  design 


214  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

as  the  doorway  upon  the  choir's  left,  into  the  old  sacristy,  and 
further  balanced  it  by  the  portrait-heads  of  seven  duchesses, 
instead  of  dukes.  Upon  its  frieze  were  the  four  Sforza 
duchesses,  up  to  and  including  Beatrice  d'Este, —  attractively 
divided  by  winged  />«///-heads,  and  upon  the  corners  and  apex 
of  the  pediment  rested  the  three  Visconti  busts.  Every  one 
of  them  was  lifelike  and  full  of  charm,  with  their  faithful 
variations  of  age,  form,  head-dress  and  expression.  In  the 
Beatrice  one  observes  "  the  same  soft,  beautiful  face,  the  same 
long  coil  of  hair  and  jewelled  net,  that  we  see  in  her  portrait 
in  the  Brera."  The  other  doorway  is  in  the  opposite,  west 
wall  of  the  transept,  leading  to  the  adjacent  cloister;  it  is 
smaller  in  size,  but  is  equally  embellished  in  every  part,  and 
perhaps  even  handsomer  in  the  grace  of  its  lines  and  the 
dainty  loveliness  of  its  reliefs. 

Inspecting  the  Lavabo,  I  found  a  small  room  lighted  by 
a  stained  window  of  the  quattrocento,  with  a  trough  running 
along  its  right  side  for  washing  purposes,  surmounted  by  an 
elongated  marble  tank  pierced  by  six  bronze  spigots;  and 
over  the  tank,  in  the  lunette  of  the  enfolding  archway,  stood 
an  interesting  marble  relief  of  many  figures,  showing  Christ 
washing  the  feet  of  the  Apostles.  The  whole  thing  was 
uniquely  conceived  and  well  executed, —  by  Alberto  MafHoli 
of  Carrara,  in  1490.  Still  prettier,  however,  was  the  small 
fresco  by  Luini  on  the  opposite  wall, —  the  so-called  Madonna 
of  the  Carnation,  a  half-figure  of  exquisite  tenderness  and 
blissful  feeling,  as  lovely  in  colour  as  in  lines  and  moulding. 

There  was  a  third  door  in  this  transept,  simply  framed,  in 
the  end  wall  to  right  of  the  middle  apse.  Passing  now 
through  it,  I  found  myself  in  the  so-called  New  Sacristy, — 
a  spacious,  lofty  chamber,  furnished  with  the  usual  appoint- 
ments of  a  vestry,  including  some  desk-cases  down  the  centre 
containing  a  lot  of  cinquecento  choir-books,  very  handsomely 


THE  MARVELLOUS  CERTOSA  DI  PAVIA     215 

illuminated.  In  one  book  I  was  shown  a  rare,  lifelike  por- 
trait of  Gian  Galeazzo,  that  was  executed  soon  after  his 
death.  But  the  whole  room  was  itself  illuminated  in  splendid 
colours  by  a  superb  canvas  occupying  a  large  part  of  the 
end  wall, —  a  glorious  Assumption  of  the  Virgin,  grandly 
designed,  richly  toned,  full  of  noble,  inspiring  figures  and 
grace  of  lines;  it  was  the  celebrated  masterpiece  of  Andrea 
Solario,  which  was  finished  50  years  after  his  death  by 
Bernardino  Campi.  As  Symonds  put  it:  "From  Borgo- 
gnone's  majesty  we  pass  into  the  quiet  region  of  Luini's 
Christian  grace,  or  mark  the  influence  of  Leonardo  on  that 
rare  Assumption  by  his  pupil,  Andrea  Solario. —  Northern 
Italy  has  nothing  finer  to  show  than  the  landscape,  out- 
spread in  its  immeasurable  purity  of  calm,  behind  the  grouped 
Apostles  and  the  ascendant  Mother  of  Heaven.  The  feeling 
of  that  happy  region  between  the  Alps  and  Lombardy,  where 
there  are  many  waters  —  and  where  the  last  spurs  of  the 
mountains  sink  in  undulations  to  the  plain,  has  passed  into 
this  azure  vista."  19 

On  the  other  walls  I  observed  some  productions  of  the 
other  two  artists  mentioned,  but  not  in  their  best  methods, — 
a  group  of  two  angels  by  Borgognone,  and  two  figures  of 
saints  now  attributed  to  Luini;  while  over  the  entrance 
hung  a  good  specimen  of  Bart.  Montagna  of  Vicenza 19a 
(about  1490)  depicting  one  of  his  quaintly  graceful  Madon- 
nas between  two  saints  and  three  angels. 

From  the  transept  I  traversed  Amadeo's  third  beau- 
tiful doorway,  into  the  smaller  of  the  two  cloisters,  on  the 
south  side  of  the  church,  whose  arcades  were  called  by 
Symonds  "  the  final  triumph  of  Lombard  terracotta  " ;  and 

19  J.  A.   Symonds'  "Sketches  and   Studies  in  Italy." 
isa  Vide    Montagna  and  his  work,  in  "Plain-Towns  of  Italy," 
chapter  on  Vicenza. 


216  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

with  the  dazzling  sunlight  their  loveliness  burst  upon  me 
like  a  flood  of  joy.  From  the  great  temple  of  marble  I 
stepped  thus  by  a  single  pace  into  the  ideal  abode  of  that 
other  material  of  the  sculptor,  so  often  cried  down,  which  in 
Renaissance  hands  gave  us  these  unsurpassable  monastic 
closes.  I  stood  at  the  inner  corner  of  the  Chiostro  della 
Fontana,  with  its  airy  arcades  stretching  away  at  right 
angles,  supported  by  slender  marble  columns  mounted  upon 
parapets, —  with  its  spacious  quadrangle  blazing  before  me 
in  the  sun,  backed  by  the  beautiful  outer  sides  of  the  farther 
arcades.  This  enclosure  could  be  called  "  smaller "  only 
by  comparison  with  the  immense  one  still  to  be  seen;  the 
trim  outlines  of  the  garden,  once  tenderly  cultivated  by  the 
monks,  were  obscured  by  the  rank  growth  of  weeds  and 
grasses;  above  the  farther  sides  rose  long  brick  structures  of 
two  and  three  stories ;  the  inner  sides  were  dominated  by  the 
lofty  buildings  of  the  church. 

I  turned  to  look  at  the  outer  face  of  Amadeo's  doorway 
behind  me;  it  was  most  daintily  enchanting,  although  one 
of  his  earliest  works,  having  been  executed  when  he  was 
only  19  years  of  age;  the  jambs  were  carved  with  two  col- 
umns of  fascinating  puttini,  in  bas-relief,  mounting  upon 
one  another's  head  and  shoulders;  the  outer  frames  consisted 
of  ingeniously  novel  arabesques  in  high-relief,  interspersed 
with  graceful  figures  of  angels,  prophets,  monks,  etc. ;  there 
were  neither  columns  proper,  nor  an  entablature,  but  it  was 
crowned  with  a  lunette  containing  a  most  engaging  relief 
of  the  Madonna  surrounded  by  adoring  friars.  I  now 
inspected  the  wonderful  cotta-work  of  the  arcades.  This 
was  entirely  upon  the  outer  sides,  the  corridors  being  white- 
washed from  arch  to  floor.  The  delicate  beauty  of  the 
broad,  round  arches  on  their  slender  shafts  was  inexpressibly 
enhanced  by  the  wealth  of  glistening  red  sculpture  overhead, 


THE  MARVELLOUS  CERTOSA  DI  PAVIA     217 

with  its  countless  variations:  pretty  angel-forms  topped  the 
foliated  capitals  of  the  columns,  half-figures  of  saints  pro- 
truded from  medallions  in  the  spandrels  above ;  and  the 
mouldings,  beneath  the  spiral  architraves,  were  delightfully 
modelled  of  little  baby-figures,  end  to  end.  The  frieze  upon 
two  sides  consisted  of  a  row  of  monkish  heads  in  panels, 
and  upon  the  other  two,  of  festoons  upheld  by  enticing 
putti.  The  astonishing  fertility  of  invention  and  felicity  of 
execution  in  this  work,  which  was  done  by  Rinaldo  de' 
Stauris,  from  1463  to  1478, —  might  well  have  inspired 
Freeman's  dictum  that  "  the  true  home  of  the  terracotta 
figures  of  Naples  is  north  Italy,  and  they  illustrate  —  one 
of  the  happiest  phases  of  the  art  of  Lombardy,  which,  on 
the  whole  less  intellectual,  less  poetic  and  less  scientific  than 
the  sculpture  of  Florence,  has  much  to  attract  in  its  grace, 
its  sprightly  realism,  its  portraits,  and  its  richly  decorative 
effects."  20 

A  more  ambitious  feature  of  the  same  work  was  revealed 
to  me  on  reaching  the  southern  corridor,  where  I  saw,  set 
in  the  wall,  another  lavabo  of  the  monks, —  another  marble 
trough  supplied  by  a  row  of  bronze  spigots,  and  decorated 
by  many  cotta  figures,  nearly  lifesize,  at  the  sides  and  over- 
head. The  principal  tableau  was  a  large  relief  of  Christ 
at  the  well,  with  the  attendant  Apostles,  in  the  lunette  of 
the  enclosing  archway;  in  its  spandrels  were  two  pretty 
angels,  and  above  the  cornice  was  a  quaint  Annunciation,  of 
homelike  setting.  The  contrast  of  the  gleaming  white  mar- 
ble with  the  glowing  crimson  of  the  terracotta  was  most 
effective. — Along  the  western  side  of  the  quadrangle  stretched 
the  great  refectory-hall,  where  all  the  friars  once  ate  to- 
gether. I  found  its  broad  walls  adorned  with  a  number 
of   old   frescoes,   of   no   special   value,    including  several   by 

20  Freeman's  "  Italian   Sculpture,"   Chap.  VI. 


218  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

Borgognone.  From  this  corner  there  opened  a  fine  view  of 
the  church's  nave  and  transept,  towering  far  above  the  op- 
posite arcades,  to  their  picturesque  colonnaded  galleries  and 
the  crowning  majesty  of  the  dome. 

Penetrating  a  passage  beside  the  lavabo,  I  emerged  finally 
upon  the  great  cloister,  to  the  south,  which  was  the  one 
chief  contribution  of  Filippo  Maria  Visconti  to  the  Certosa. 
Its  size  was  fairly  startling.  Around  its  immense  square 
field  extended  the  unbroken  arcades,  airily  borne  by  similar 
slender  columns  mounted  upon  parapets,  and  carrying  an 
almost  equal  wealth  of  cotta  decoration.  Good-sized  statues 
of  saints  stood  over  the  capitals  of  the  shafts,  with  busts 
projecting  from  medallions  aboue  their  heads,  (in  large  part 
the  work  of  de'Stauris  and  A.  Riccio)  ;  and  the  mouldings  of 
the  arches  were  exquisitely  sculptured  into  angels  and  winged 
/>z/«/-heads.  The  frieze  and  cornice  were  conventional,  but 
very  handsome.  On  the  farther  sides  the  arcades  were 
backed  by  two-  and  three-storied  dwellings,  24  in  all,  each 
containing  three  friars'  rooms,  and  surrounded  by  a  little  gar- 
den. This  unique  monastic  idea  seems  to  have  been  quite  suc- 
cessful. It  was  in  one  of  the  attics  of  the  adjacent  larger 
buildings,  then  devoted  to  the  storage  of  grain,  that  King 
Francis  the  First  is  said  to  have  been  confined  for  a  short 
time  immediately  after  the  near-by  battle  of  Pavia  which 
shattered  the  French  cause  in  Lombardy,  in  1525,  and  led 
Francis  himself  to  a  Spanish  prison. 

On  returning  to  the  church,  its  front  entrance  was  re- 
gained, and  my  visit  completed,  by  traversing  the  right-hand 
line  of  chapels.  In  these  I  found  a  series  of  excellent  pictures: 
the  first  chapel  (or  seventh  from  the  entrance)  contained 
a  pleasing  Annunciation  by  Procaccini,  with  a  charming 
modern  predella  showing  the  Flight  into  Egypt,  by  Galli  da 
Romano;  the  second  and  third  contained  two  more  specimens 


THE  MARVELLOUS  CERTOSA  DI  PAVIA     219 

of  Borgognone,  in  his  happiest  vein, —  St.  Syrus,  the  first 
bishop  of  Pavia,  and  a  Crucifixion  of  remarkable  beauty, 
considered  by  many  to  be  the  artist's  masterpiece;  in  the  fifth 
was  a  fine  polyptich,  its  chief  compartment  showing  a  Ma- 
donna between  two  Cistercian  saints,  by  the  rare  Macrino 
d'Alba,  and  the  other  compartments  being  from  Borgognone's 
hand ;  while  the  seventh  chapel,  next  the  entrance,  displayed  a 
handsome  St.  Veronica  by  Procaccini.  All  of  these  chapels 
were  richly  furnished  in  late-Renaissance  style,  with  splendid 
altars  of  pietra-dura. 

The  so-called  Palazzo  Ducale,  I  found,  was  now  partly 
devoted  to  a  museum  consisting  of  various  sculptures,  paint- 
ings and  artistic  odds  and  ends,  none  very  remarkable,  that 
had  been  collected  during  the  Certosa's  building  or  removed 
during  its  decadence.21 — With  a  last  look  at  the  marvellous 
facade,  glittering  with  its  infinite  carvings  in  the  western 
sun, —  a  last  thought  of  the  great  dead  who  had  laboured 
at  this  wondrous  temple,  and  given  up  to  it  their  lives  and 
genius, —  I  went  out  through  the  old  vestibule,  under  the 
softly  glowing  frescoes  of  Luini,  down  the  tree-lined  avenue 
toward  the  sunset.  And  as  I  glanced  over  the  luxuriant,  far- 
spread  meadows,  softened  by  the  long  evening  shadows  of 
their  copses  of  wood,  Symonds'  words  once  more  came  to  my 
mind :  "  They  are  poems  now,  those  fields ;  with  that  un- 
changing background  of  history,  romance,  and  human  life  — 
the  Lombard  plain, —  against  whose  violet  breadth  the  blos- 
soms bend  their  faint  heads  to  the  evening  air." 

21  The  visitor  may  find  that  one  or  more  of  the  church's  pictures 
have  been  removed  to  this  museum, —  which  is  also  occasionally  done 
to  permit  of  copying. 


CHAPTER  VII 

PAVIA  THE  PRIMEVAL 

"  Great  cities,   greater   in   decay   and   death, 
Dream-like   with   immemorial   repose, 
Whose  ruins  like  a  shrine  forever  sheathe 
The  mighty  names  and  memories  of  those 
Who  lived  and  died,  to  die  no  more, —  shall  close 
Your  happy   pilgrimage;    and  you   shall    learn, 
Breathing  their  ancient  air,  the  thoughts  that  burn 
Forever  in  the  hearts  of  after-men." 

J.  A.  Symonds. 

Proud  is  ancient  Pavia,  not  of  her  decadent  present,  but 
of  her  glorious  past,  with  its  transcendent  leadership  of 
centuries  in  the  plain  of  Lombardy.  Nowhere  else,  save  in 
Rome  alone,  is  there  such  a  contrast  between  comparative 
modern  insignificance  and  historic  grandeur;  nowhere  else 
has  there  been  such  a  fall, —  from  peerless  heights  of  power, 
pomp  and  intellectuality,  to  a  strangulated,  amorphous  desola- 
tion. The  splendid  Ticinum  of  imperial  Rome,  the  royal 
residence  of  Theodoric  the  Great,  the  magnificent  Papia  from 
which  Lombard  dynasties  ruled  northern  Italy,  have  left  not 
a  portico  nor  a  column  to  mark  their  grandeur;  the  Ghibelline 
capital  of  the  royal  Fredericks  and  Henry  VII,  the  strong, 
perennial  leader  of  imperialistic  leagues  and  forces,  the 
brilliant  court  and  formidable  fortress  of  the  Visconti  and 
Sforza  tyrannies, —  even  they,  so  much  more  recent,  have 
left  behind  them  not  one  worthy  monument ;  and  this  ancient 
metropolis  of  marbled  palaces,  this  mediaeval  stronghold 
of  a  hundred  towers,  has  sunk  into  a  little,  sleeping,  provin- 

220 


PAVIA  THE  PRIMEVAL  221 

cial  town,  with  dark,  monotonous  streets  and  ugly  buildings, 
inhabited  by  a  population  of  only  30,000  souls. 

Yet  in  spite  of  all  this,  perhaps  from  the  very  sense  of 
contrast,  Pavia  is  still  interesting, —  very  interesting.  Her 
tragic,  momentous  history  invests  every  fragment,  every  stone, 
surviving  from  those  great  epochs,  with  a  fascination  round 
which  the  imagination  builds.  The  remaining  quadrilateral 
of  her  Visconti  Castle,  first  and  foremost  of  the  palatial 
strongholds  of  mediaeval  despots,  still  seems  to  re-echo  with 
the  gay  laughter  of  the  blithe  Beatrice  d'Este,  and  the 
lamentations  of  the  dethroned  Isabella  of  Aragon.  The 
classic  quadrangles  of  the  University,  for  so  many  ages  the 
seat  and  centre  of  Lombard  learning,  still  vibrate  with  the 
undying  words  of  Volta  and  Spallanzani.  Imperial  Rome 
still  lives  in  the  even  rectangularity  of  the  narrow  streets;  and 
their  sombre  architecture  still  bears  the  brutal  imprint  of 
the  conquering  Lombards. 

This  last  is  the  most  striking  feature  of  the  town  today: 
gone  are  its  ancient  palaces,  vanished  are  the  innumerable 
mediaeval  towers  which  for  so  long  gave  it  the  name  of  the 
Citta  delle  cento  torri;  but  the  place  yet  lingers  in  that 
same  grim,  savage  mould  which  was  given  it  in  its  grandest 
era,  as  the  capital  and  metropolis  of  the  Lombard  kingdom. 
Here  then,  more  than  anywhere  else,  can  one  see  the  strange 
semi-civilisation,  power,  and  cruel  superstition  of  that  bar- 
baric race,  set  forth  in  its  ponderous,  dark  buildings  and 
rude,  grotesque  art.  Many  and  many  a  dwelling  in  those 
confined,  dusky  streets  remains  practically  unaltered  from 
that  heroic  age,  with  its  heavy  walls  and  little,  rough  win- 
dows, and  the  stump  of  a  fighting  keep  that  once  soared 
aloft ; *  but  it  is  in  the  churches,  unchanged  by  later  ages, 

1  Bell,  in  his  "  Observations  on  Italy,"  remarks  justly  upon 
Pavia's  "  decayed  fortifications  and  fallen  battlements, —  her  gloomy 


222  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

with  their  profusion  of  barbarous  carvings,  intact  as  no- 
where else, —  that  one  fully  discerns  the  race's  fierce,  wild 
character.  S.  Michele  Maggiore  is  admittedly  the  oldest 
and  most  remarkable  Lombard  edifice  of  the  plain ;  S.  Pietro 
in  Ciel  d'Oro  is  nearly  as  old,  and  holds,  besides,  one  of 
■  the  greatest  artistic  productions  of  the  trecento, —  the  famous 
Area  of  St.  Augustine,  containing  the  ashes  of  that  Father 
of  the  Church. 

It  was  the  location  of  Pavia  that  perforce  made  it  from 
earliest  ages  a  city  of  importance :  situated  upon  the  northern 
bank  of  the  Ticino  river  about  five  miles  only  from  its  con- 
fluence with  the  Po,  and  being  thus  practically  at  the  junction 
of  those  two  largest  waterways  of  the  plain,  which  were 
until  the  railroad  era  the  principal  routes  of  transportation, 
—  it  became  inevitably  a  city  of  the  first  rank,  both  com- 
mercially and  strategically,  from  the  epoch  of  the  Roman 
dominion  downwards.  It  lay  also  upon  the  great  north  and 
south  highway, —  from  Milan  and  the  lake  region  to  Genoa 
and  the  Meridionale. 

The  Roman  Ticinum  was  therefore  a  large  and  prosperous 
city.2  We  read  of  it  in  352  A.  D'.  as  being  the  scene  of 
one  of  the  last  battles  between  the  usurper  Magnentius  and 
the  forces  of  the  Emperor  Constantius.3  Its  position  made 
it  always  an  important  camp  for  the  legions  in  charge  of 
Cisalpine  Gaul.  Here  they  assembled  in  A.  D.  408,  prepar- 
ing to  contest  for  Emperor  Honorius  the  approach  of  Alaric 
with   his   Visigoths;    Stilicho,    the   great    general   who   had 

Gothic  towers  crumbling  into  ruins, —  all  present  symbols  of  desola- 
tion, most  painful  and  depressing." 

2  Here  Cornelius  Nepos  was  born,  about  80  B.C.;  and  here 
Augustus  and  Livia,  enjoying  a  sumptuous  villeggiatura,  received 
with  triumphal  honors  Tiberius,  returning  from  victory  over  the 
Germans. 

a  Gibbon,  Vol.  II,  Chap.  XVIII. 


PAVIA  THE  PRIMEVAL  223 

already  twice  saved  the  empire,  was  at  the  foot  of  the  Julian 
Alps  with  the  advance  guard,  leaving  most  of  his  faithful 
lieutenants  in  command  at  Pavia;  but  the  cowardly  Hon- 
orius  had  determined  to  rid  himself  of  his  feared  preserver, 
and  accordingly,  upon  his  arrival  at  the  city,  incited  the 
soldiers  to  that  infamous  massacre  which  in  one  day  de- 
stroyed all  of  Stilicho's  adherents.  They  murdered  "  the 
most  illustrious  officers  of  the  empire. —  Many  lives  were 
lost ;  many  houses  plundered ;  the  famous  sedition  continued 
to  rage  till  the  close  of  the  evening;  and  the  trembling 
Emperor,  who  was  seen  in  the  streets  of  Pavia  without  his 
robes  or  diadem  —  approved  the  innocence  and  fidelity  of 
the  assassins."  4  This  was  followed  by  the  assassination  of 
Stilicho  himself.  Whereupon  Alaric,  no  longer  to  be  re- 
sisted, advanced  to  the  occupation  of  Italy  and  the  sack  of 
Rome. 

Pavia  escaped  the  attention  of  this  conqueror;  and  saved 
herself  from  Attila,  44  years  later,  by  handing  over  to  the 
Huns  most  of  her  amassed  treasures;  but  in  476  she  was 
taken  by  assault,  and  saw  enacted  within  her  walls  the  fall 
of  the  Western  Empire.  For  it  was  to  fortified  Pavia  that 
Orestes  fled,  with  his  son  Romulus  Augustulus,  the  last 
Emperor  of  Rome,  when  menaced  by  the  revolted  Visi- 
goths under  the  lead  of  Odoacer.  "  Pavia  was  immediately 
besieged,  the  fortifications  were  stormed,  the  town  was  pil- 
laged." 5  Orestes  was  slain,  Augustulus  dethroned,  and 
Odoacer  became  the  first  King  of  Italy.     That  the  strength 

4  Gibbon,   Vol.   II,   Chap.  XXX. 

5  Idem,  Vol  III,  Chap.  XXXVI.  It  was  Epiphanlus  who,  when 
the  stormed  and  sacked  city  was  being  burned  by  Odoacer,  and  all 
its  young  womanhood  had  been  dragged  to  the  Gothic  camp,  boldly 
presented  himself  before  the  savage  king,  and  by  the  majestic  elo- 
quence of  his  address  obtained  both  the  stoppage  of  the  flames  and 
the  release  of  the  maidens. 


224  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

of  Pavia  was  not  much  injured  then,  is  proved  by  the  fact 
that  only  14  years  later,  when  Odoacer  fell  in  turn  before 
the  invading  Theodoric,  the  latter  made  the  city  his  central 
camp;  and  when,  after  the  murder  of  the  Visigothic  King, 
the  Ostrogoth  turned  his  arms  against  the  Burgundians, 
"  Theodoric's  own  family  and  the  non-combatants  of  the 
Ostrogothic  nation  were  in  safe  shelter,  though  in  somewhat 
narrow  quarters,  in  the  strong  city  of  Pavia,  whose  Bishop, 
Epiphanius,  was  the  greatest  saint  of  his  age,  and  one  for 
whom  Theodoric  felt  an  especial  veneration."  5a  This  was 
the  founder  of  the  sect  of  Epiphanites. 

At  Pavia.  when  the  conquest  had  been  completed,  The- 
odoric the  Great  fixed  for  a  time  his  residence  and  court. 
He  "  built  a  palace,  baths,  and  amphitheatre,  and  erected 
walls  around  the  city;"8  and  continued  to  divide  his  time 
between  this  city,  Ravenna  and  Verona.  It  was  here  that 
he  perpetrated  the  unfortunate  tragedy  of  the  great  Boethius, 
which  has  left  such  a  tarnish  upon  his  glory.  Boethius,  "  the 
last  of  the  ancients,  and  one  who  forms  a  link  between  the 
classical  period  of  literature  and  that  of  the  Middle  Ages,  in 
which  he  was  a  favourite  author, —  after  filling  the  digni- 
ties of  consul  and  senator  in  the  court  of  Theodoric,  fell  a 
victim  to  the  jealousy  of  the  sovereign.  The  '  Consolation 
of  Philosophy,'  the  chief  work  of  Boethius,  was  written  in 
his  prison.  Last  of  the  classical  writers,  in  style  not  impure, 
—  in  elevation  of  sentiment  equal  to  any  of  the  philosophers, 
and  mingling  a  Christian  sanctity  with  their  lessons,  he 
speaks  from  his  prison  in  swan-like  tones  of  dying  elo- 
quence." T  This  prison  was  a  tower  in  the  city  of  Pavia, 
which,  according  to  tradition,  stood  until  1584,  and  whose 

5a  Gibbon,  supra. 

6  T.   Hodgkin's  "  Theodoric  the   Goth." 

7  Hallam's  "  Literature  of  Europe,"  Vol.  I,  Chap.  I. 


PAVIA  THE  PRIMEVAL  225 

site  is  still  pointed  out.  In  528  the  persecuted  writer, —  who 
had  been  the  final  Latinist  to  translate  from  the  Greek 
poets,  and  whose  own  works  were  translated  by  Alfred  the 
Great  centuries  later, —  haying  been  accused  of  witchcraft 
and  magic,  was  done  to  death  at  Theodoric's  command,  by 
strangling  and  beating  with  clubs.  His  father-in-law,  Sym- 
machus,  was  also  slain. 

The  mind  of  Theodoric  never  recovered  from,  the  shock 
of  this  double  crime.  Only  a  year  or  two  later  he  lay  dying 
himself,  overwhelmed  by  the  weight  of  guilt,  confessing  in 
a  broken  voice  his  miserable  repentance.  So  he  passed  away, 
and  was  buried  in  his  magnificent  tomb  at  Ravenna. 

In  the  troublous  times  which  soon  followed,  when  Italy 
was  swept  by  the  formidable  armies  of  the  Emperor  Justinian, 
in  his  efforts  to  unite  the  peninsula  to  the  Byzantine  crown, 
Pavia  was  for  some  while  the  only  city  remaining  in  Gothic 
hands.  "  From  its  magnificent  position  at  the  angle  of  the 
Ticino  and  the  Po,  it  was  often  in  the  early  Middle  Ages 
the  last  stronghold  to  be  surrendered  in  northwestern 
Italy."  8  This  was  soon  shown  again  in  the  invasion  of  the 
Lombards,  when  the  Byzantine  forces  held  out  in  Pavia 
after  every  other  city  had  fallen.  "  The  royal  camp  (of 
Alboin)  was  fixed  above  three  years  before  the  western  gate 
of  Ticinum  —  and  the  impatient  besieger  had  bound  himself 
by  a  tremendous  oath,  that  age,  and  sex,  and  dignity  should 
be  compounded  in  a  general  massacre.  The  aid  of  famine 
at  length  enabled  him  to  execute  his  bloody  vow;  but,  as 
Alboin  entered  the  gate,  his  horse  stumbled,  fell,  and  could 
not  be  raised  from  the  ground.  One  of  his  attendants  was 
prompted  by  compassion,  or  piety,  to  interpret  this  a  miracu- 

8  T.  Hodgkin's  "Theodoric  the  Goth." — In  553,  however,  Pavia 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Byzantines,  and  there  remained  until  Al- 
boin's  coming. 


226  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

lous  sign  of  the  wrath  of  Heaven:  the  conqueror  paused, 
and  relented;  he  sheathed  his  sword,  and  peacefully  reposing 
himself  in  the  palace  of  Theodoric,  proclaimed  to  the  trem- 
bling multitude  that  they  should  live  and  obey.  Delighted 
with  the  situation  of  a  city  which  was  endeared  to  his  pride 
by  the  difficulty  of  the  purchase,  the  prince  of  the  Lombards 
disdained  the  ancient  glories  of  Milan;  and  Pavia,  during 
some  ages,  was  respected  as  the  capital  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Italy."  9 

Once  more  was  this  same  drama  enacted:  for  when  the 
Lombards  had  in  their  turn  decayed,  and  their  last  sovereign, 
Desiderius,  had  in  vain  tried  to  ward  off  the  looming  Frank- 
ish  storm  by  offering  to  Charlemagne  his  daughter,  it  was 
here,  at  Pavia  again,  that  he  made  his  final  heroic  stand 
against  the  invaders.  "  After  a  blockade  of  two  years,  Des- 
iderius —  surrendered  his  sceptre  and  his  capital."  10  Thus 
did  Pavia,  after  a  royal  pre-eminence  of  nearly  300  years, 
fall  at  one  stroke,  in  774,  to  the  state  of  a  provincial  town; 
and  150  years  later  she  suffered  a  far  worse  calamity, —  the 
practically  total  destruction  of  nearly  all  her  edifices,  which 
had  stood  since  Roman  days.  The  splendid  metropolis  of 
Theodoric,  of  Alboin,  and  of  the  long  line  of  Lombard 
Kings,   with   all   its   accumulated   wealth    of   buildings  and 

9  Gibbon,  Vol.  IV,  Chap.  XLV. — "  From  this  moment  commenced 
the  great  story  of  mediaeval  Ticinum,  henceforth  named  Papia. — 
The  Lombard  kings  enlarged  the  city  walls,  and  founded  schools, 
palaces,  and  sumptuous  edifices.  Then  arose  also  the  greater  part  of 
its  celebrated   churches." — Giacinto  Romano's   "  Guida   di   Pavia." 

10  Gibbon,  Vol.  IV,  Chap.  XLIX  —  Charlemagne  "  conduit  en 
France  le  roi  vaincu,  qui,  enferme  dans  le  couvent  de  Corbre,  y 
mourut  bientot  oublie."  Partouneaux:  Histoire  de  la  Conquete  de 
la  Lombardie. —  The  conqueror  highly  prized  Pavia,  and  bestowed 
upon  it  many  benefits.  Under  the  strong  rule  of  the  Frankish 
Counts  it  reposed  peacefully   for  several  generations. 


PAVIA  THE  PRIMEVAL  227 

chattels,  was  stormed  by  the  ferocious  Hungarian  invaders 
of  the  plain,  and  sacked  with  fire  and  slaughter.  As  Gib- 
bon says,  speaking  of  that  time:  "Among  the  cities  of  the 
West,  the  royal  Pavia  was  conspicuous  in  fame  and  splendour ; 
and  the  pre-eminence  of  Rome  itself  was  only  derived  from 
the  relics  of  the  Apostles.  The  Hungarians  appeared; 
Pavia  was  in  flames;  forty-three  churches  were  consumed; 
and  after  the  massacre  of  the  people,  they  spared  about  two 
hundred  wretches,  who  had  gathered  some  bushels  of  gold 
and  silver  (a  vague  exaggeration)  from  the  smoking 
ruins."  u     With  only  too  just  sorrow  did  Ariosto  cry: 

"  Our  Italy  was  given  in  a  later  day 
To  Lombard,   Goth  and  Hun  a  bleeding  prey  — 
Whom,  because  men  still  trod  the  crooked  way, 
God  sent  them   for  their  pain   and   torment  sore." 

Not  long  after  this  the  town  (now,  and  from  900  on- 
wards, an  independent  republic)  incurred  a  repetition  of  the 
conflagration,  at  the  time  of  Emperor  Henry  the  Sec- 
ond's first  expedition  into  Italy,  consequent  upon  a  great 
riot  between  his  soldiers  and  the  citizens;  when  the  flames 
consumed  all  that  was  still  left  of  the  ancient  grandeur. 
And  again,  in  11 39,  it  was  taken  by  assault,  on  this  occa- 
sion by  the  Emperor  Lothaire,  whose  troops  stripped  the 
wretched  inhabitants  of  the  little  they  had.  Yet,  extraor- 
dinary as  it  may  seem,  during  these  centuries  of  calamity 
Pavia  did  not  retrograde  into  a  city  of  the  second  class,  but 
in  spite  of  the  repeated  destructions  continued  to  be  large 
enough  and  strong  enough  to  head  the  imperial  league  of 
Lombard  towns.  This  position  she  held  always,  being  the 
chief  stronghold  of  the  emperors  upon  the  plain, —  with  the 
exception  of  a  brief  reversal  of  policy  during  the  reign  of 

«  Gibbon,  Vol.  IV,  Chap.  LV. 


228  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

Lothaire,  which  he  punished  as  narrated.  In  this  early 
epoch  of  the  Middle  Ages  Milan  was  the  head  of  the  Guelfic 
towns,  and  continued  so  to  be  until  she  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  Visconti.  These  two  municipal  leaders,  with  their 
respective  followers,  were  therefore  almost  incessantly  at 
war.  But  through  it  all  Pavia,  rebuilding  ever  since  the 
fire  of  1004,  steadily  increased  in  strength  and  prosperity; 
like  all  the  other  cities  of  the  plain,  she  raised  new  walls, 
churches,  and  public  buildings,  by  the  self-devotion  of  her 
people. 

When  Frederick  Barbarossa  descended  into  Lombardy  in 
1 152,  inaugurating  the  great  era  of  Guelf-Ghibelline  strife, 
he  placed  Pavia  at  the  head  of  a  new  league  of  imperial  cities ; 
her  militia  accompanied  him  to  the  siege  of  rebellious  Tor- 
tona;  and  it  was  at  Pavia's  principal  church,  St.  Michele,  in 
1 155,  that  he  solemnly  placed  upon  his  head  the  Iron  Crown 
of  Lombardy.  During  the  subsequent  21  years,  and  after 
the  razing  of  Milan,  and  the  revolt  of  all  other  Lombard 
towns,  Pavia  alone  remained  steadfastly  faithful  to  his  cause, 
showing  how  deeply  and  ineradicably  grounded  had  been 
her  royal  prejudices.  She  proved  similarly  true  during  the 
subsequent  era  of  Frederick  the  Second.  Shortly  after  his 
death,  when  his  grandson  Conradin  appeared  in  her  midst, 
bound  upon  his  luckless  expedition  to  claim  the  throne  of 
Sicily,  and  escorted  by  Mastino  della  Scala  of  Verona  and 
other  princes,  Conradin  presumed  to  bestow  upon  Mastino 
the  lordship  of  Pavia;  the  faithful  citizens  accepted  the 
transfer  without  a  murmur.  This  was  in  1267;  and  just 
ten  years  later  the  Visconti  seized  Milan,  by  imprisoning 
the  Della  Torre.  Pavia  soon  threw  off  the  Scala  yoke ;  and 
when  Emperor  Henry  VII  appeared  in  Lombardy  in  1310, 
at  once  submitted  herself  to  him,  and  received  the  appoint- 
ment of  an  imperial  vicar. 


PAVIA  THE  PRIMEVAL  229 

When  Henry  had  departed,  however,  the  strong  Matteo 
Visconti  immediately  assumed  possession  of  Milan,  in  131 1; 
and  two  years  later  he  took  possession  of  Pavia,  which  thus 
became  a  member  of  the  Visconti  dominions, —  with  the 
family  of  the  Beccaria  as  viceroys.  The  Beccaria  thus 
emerged  supreme  locally  from  their  strife  of  several  genera- 
tions with  the  Longasco.12  The  revolt  of  I357~8,  which 
was  characteristic  of  that  curious  age,  being  religious  in  its 
character  and  headed  by  the  friar  Jacopo  de'Bussolari, — 
ended  only  in  riveting  the  citizens'  chains  the  tighter.  When 
the  Visconti  territories  were  soon  after  divided  for  awhile, 
amongst  the  three  sons  of  Stefano,  the  son  of  Matteo,  Pavia 
became  the  chief  portion  and  capital  of  the  magnificent 
Galeazzo,  who  was  celebrated  as  the  handsomest  prince  of 
his  period.  It  was  he  who  then  built  the  great  Castello 
which  subsequently  held  the  city  in  thrall,  and  became  re- 
nowned as  the  first  and  grandest  despotic  stronghold  of  the 
plain.  His  son  Gian  Galeazzo  resided  within  it,  and  largely 
added  to  and  adorned  it,  until  he  had  disposed  of  his  rela- 
tives and  made  himself  master  of  Lombardy ;  then  he  re- 
moved to  Milan.  The  celebrated  investiture  of  1395,  from 
the  Emperor  Wesceslaus,  created  him  Count  of  Pavia  as 
well  as  Duke  of  Milan,  with  the  lordship  of  26  other 
towns. 

At  the  great  tyrant's  death  in  1402,  the  Countship  of 
Pavia  was  willed  to  his  son  Filippo  Maria,  together  with  the 
possession  of  a  number  of  adjacent  cities;  the  castle  was  again 

12  During  Pavia's  400  years  of  glorious  independence,  first  the 
local  Fallabrini  and  Marcabotti  families,  later  the  Beccaria  and 
the  Longasco,  contested  long  and  fiercely  between  each  other  for 
predominance;  the  last  Longasco,  Ricciardino,  meeting  a  storied, 
heroic  death  in  the  city's  final  defence  against  the  Visconti. —  Vide 
Luigi  Ponzio:  "  Storia  di  Pavia." 


230  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

inhabited;  and  from  it  Filippo,  like  his  father  before  him, 
proceeded  to  make  himself  master  of  all  the  Visconti  do- 
mains. After  his  death,  Pavia  was  one  of  the  first  towns  to 
recognise  the  lordship  of  Francesco  Sforza.  The  latter  and 
his  son  Galeazzo  successively  resided  at  Milan ;  but  upon  the 
murder  of  Galeazzo  in  1476,  and  the  accession  of  Lodovico 
II  Moro  as  regent  for  his  infant  nephew,  Gian  Galeazzo, 
the  latter  was  removed  by  the  regent  to  the  Castle  of  Pavia, 
which  Gian  Galeazzo  continued  to  occupy  until  his  death. 
It  was  here,  in  1488,  that  the  festivities  of  his  marriage  to 
Isabella  of  Aragon  were  celebrated  with  great  eclat,  includ- 
ing in  their  scope  two  of  the  most  brilliant  tournaments  of 
Italian  knighthood.  And  but  three  years  later  Pavia  wit- 
nessed a  still  grander  pageant,  upon  the  wedding  of  Lodo- 
vico himself  to  the  charming  Beatrice  d'Este,  who  first  set 
foot  here  in  her  husband's  realm  after  journeying  by  boat 
up  the  Po. 

"Whose  fortunes  well  shall  with  her  name  accord; 
Who,  while  she   lives,  not  only  shall  not  miss 
What   good  the   heavens  to  those  below   afford, 
But  make,  with  her,  partaker  of  her  bliss, 
First    among   wealthy    dukes,    her   cherished    lord ; 
Who  shall,  when  she  from  hence  receives  her  call, 
Into  the  lowest  depth  of  misery  fall."  13 

"  The  bride  landed  near  the  chapel  on  the  bridge,  and  in 
the  fading  light  of  the  short  winter's  afternoon,  rode  at 
Lodovico's  side  through  the  chief  streets  of  the  old  Lombard 
capital. —  On  the  princely  cavalcade  wound,  amid  a  dense 
crowd  of  people  shouting  '  Moro !  Moro ! ' —  up  the  long 
Strada  Nuova,  with  its  marble  palaces  and  newly  painted 
loggias  adorned  with  busts  and  frescoes,  in  front  of  the 
stately  Ateneo  with  its  halls  and  porticoes,  which  had  the 

13  Ariosto's    "  Orlando    Furioso,"    LXII ;    Rose's    Trail. 


PAVIA  THE  PRIMEVAL  231 

reputation  of  being  the  finest  university  in  all  Italy,  past 
the  rising  walls  of  the  new  Duomo,  which  Lodovico  was 
building  on  the  site  of  the  ruined  basilica  of  Charlemagne's 
time. —  The  beautiful  park  and  gardens  lay  deep  in  snow, 
their  lakes  and  fountains  were  all  frozen  over;  but  there  was 
plenty  to  interest  and  amuse  the  visitors  within  the  walls 
of  the  great  Castello,  of  which  they  had  heard  so  much, 
and  which  was  said  to  be  the  grandest  of  royal  houses  in  the 
whole  of  Europe.  Three  or  four  generations  of  masters 
had  been  employed  by  successive  Visconti  dukes  to  rear  this 
glorious  fabric. —  On  Tuesday  the  17th  of  January,  the 
long-delayed  wedding  formally  took  place  in  the  Castello  — 
in  the  ancient  chapel  of  the  Visconti.  The  bride,  arrayed  in 
a  white  robe  sewn  with  pearls  and  glittering  with  jewels, 
was  led  to  the  altar  by  the  Duchess  of  Ferrara  and  Mar- 
chioness of  Mantua,  supported  by  the  young  Don  Alfonso 
(d'Este)  his  uncle  Sigismondo,  and  a  select  retinue  of  Fer- 
rarese  courtiers."  14 

Much  of  the  subsequent  tragedy  was  played  on  this  Pavian 
stage.  Its  earlier  acts  continued  to  resound  with  festivities 
of  every  kind.  Lodovico  and  his  wife  spent  a  large  part 
of  the  summer  seasons  at  Pavia,  in  the  company  of  Gian 
Galeazzo  and  Isabella,  entertaining  innumerable  guests, 
joining  together  in  hunting  parties,  theatricals,  card  games, 
and  amusements  of  every  nature.  They  indulged  in  elab- 
orate pageants  and  tournaments  upon  the  christening  of  their 
several  children,  and  upon  any  other  occasion  that  afforded 
a  fair  excuse  for  fetes.  Bramante  himself  arranged  their 
dramatic  performances,  and  other  artists  of  the  first  rank 
were  called  upon  for  their  services.  In  the  city  itself  Lodo- 
vico rebuilded  the  Cathedral  and  a  number  of  civic  struc- 
tures, revivified  the  old  University  into  a  new  splendour  and 
14  Julia  Cartwright's  "  Beatrice  d'Este." 


232  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

reputation,  and  did  all  in  his  power  to  establish  a  lively  pros- 
perity. But  underneath  it  all  ran  the  dark  undercurrent  of 
his  nephew's  virtual  imprisonment,  the  dissatisfaction  of  the 
Duchess  Isabella,  and  Lodovico's  own  determination,  inspired 
by  the  birth  of  his  sons,  to  seize  the  throne  in  his  own  name. 

A  climax  was  brought  on  by  the  arrival  of  Charles  VIII 
of  France  in  1494,  whom  the  Moro  had  so  unwisely  called 
upon  to  seize  the  throne  of  Naples.  He  came  directly  to 
Pavia,  via  Asti  and  Casale,  and  was  gorgeously  entertained 
by  Lodovico  at  the  Castello.  There,  however,  he  saw  per- 
force the  weakly  Gian  Galeazzo,  his  own  cousin,  now 
stretched  upon  a  bed  of  illness;  and  Isabella,  falling  at  his 
feet,  poured  out  with  tears  her  lamentations  over  their  de- 
thronement and  begged  him  to  secure  justice  for  her  hus- 
band. "  The  situation  was  indeed  enough  to  move  a 
stouter  heart  than  that  of  the  feeble  young  King."  15  But 
he  was  firmly  bound  to  Lodovico ;  and  had  to  go  on  his  way 
to  Naples,  leaving  the  young  couple  still  unsatisfied.  The 
Moro,  who  was  naturally  enraged,  accompanied  his  guest 
as  far  as  Piacenza.  There  the  news  was  brought  them  of 
the  death  of  the  unfortunate  Gian  Galeazzo,  within  a  week 
of  the  royal  interview.  Occurring  so  suddenly,  under  such 
circumstances,  so  aptly  to  remove  all  danger  from  Lodovico's 
path,  he  was  immediately  accused  by  general  voice  of  being 
a  poisoner.  The  accusation  has  clung  from  that  day  to  this, 
—  even  Symonds  positively  affirming  the  truth  of  it ;  but 
the  best  of  recent  criticism,  weighing  the  young  duke's  severe 
illness  and  Lodovico's  character,  holds  him  guiltless  of  the 
death.     Of  his  innocence  I  have  not  the  faintest  doubt. 

But  although  the  Moro  and  Beatrice  thus  realised  their 
ambition,  the  final  acts  of  the  tragedy  soon  occurred:  Lo- 
dovico turned  faithless;  Beatrice  pined,  and  died;  Louis  XII 

15  J.  A.  Symonds'  "  Age  of  the  Despots." 


PAVIA  THE  PRIMEVAL  233 

of  France,  following  the  example  set  by  Charles  VIII, 
descended  with  his  army  to  seize  the  throne  of  Milan ; 
Pavia  and  its  Castello  were  occupied  by  him;  and  Lodovico 
was  led  away  to  his  French  dungeon.  The  conquerors,  how- 
ever, were  not  long  suffered  to  enjoy  their  possession ;  Louis 
died  immaturely,  and  with  the  accession  of  Francis  I  to  his 
crown,  and  that  of  Charles  V  to  the  joint  thrones  of  Spain 
and  Austria,  there  commenced  the  supreme  struggle  be- 
tween them  for  northern  Italy.  Once  more  was  Pavia  the 
centre  of  strife  for  Lombardy's  ownership;  once  more  was 
she  the  final  stronghold  of  present  owners  against  new  in- 
vaders; and  around  her  she  saw  enacted  the  closing  scenes 
of  the  catastrophe.  They  succeeded  each  other  like  the 
flashing  films  of  a  cinematograph.  For  three  years,  from 
15 12  to  15 15,  her  Castello  and  that  of  Milan  were  occupied 
by  Maximilian  Sforza,  the  elder  son  of  Lodovico,  who  was 
supported  against  the  French  armies  by  the  Swiss;  Francis 
I  then  dethroned  him,  and  held  the  country  for  six  years; 
in  1 52 1  he  was  in  turn  driven  out  by  the  Spaniards,  allied 
with  the  Pope  and  several  other  Italian  princes,  including 
the  Marquis  of  Mantua, —  who  thus  assisted  in  placing  upon 
the  precarious  Lombard  throne  his  cousin  Francesco,  the 
younger  son  of  Lodovico. 

"  Lautrec  (Francis'  commander-in-chief)  now  concen- 
trated all  his  forces  on  Pavia,  which  was  valiantly  defended 
by  Federico  Gonzaga  (Marquis  of  Mantua)  who  success- 
fully repulsed  a  determined  assault  of  the  French,  and,  in 
spite  of  the  small  numbers  of  his  force  and  the  lack  of  ar- 
tillery, compelled  them  to  retire  to  Monza."  16  There  they 
were  decisively  beaten,  and  then  retreated  across  the  Alps ; 
leaving  the  Castle  of  Milan  still,  however,  in  the  hands  of 
a  French  garrison.     Duke  Francesco,  the  last  of  the  Sforzas, 

16  Julia  Cartwright's  "  Beatrice  d'Este." 


234  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

therefore  occupied  the  Castello  of  Pavia;  it  was  like  a 
shadow,  an  echo,  of  the  bright  days  of  his  parents  forever 
past.  He  was  constrained  still  to  remain  there,  when 
Francis,  approaching  in  1524  at  the  head  of  the  largest  army 
he  had  yet  raised,  first  seized  Milan,  then  invested  Pavia 
by  assault  and  siege.  The  immemorial  stronghold  resisted 
all  his  attacks  and  arts  from  October  till  February;  then 
Pescara,  Charles'  general,  advanced  from  Lodi  with  the 
imperial  forces  which  he  had  been  so  long  preparing,  and  the 
tremendous  drama,  which  the  Moro  had  inaugurated  thirty 
years  before,  was  brought  to  its  terrible  culmination. 

The  two  armies  closed  between  the  walls  of  Pavia  and  the 
Certosa.  The  battle  "  was  very  hardly  contested,  as  both 
sides  knew  that  the  possession  of  Italy  was  at  stake. —  The 
bravest  nobles  on  the  side  of  the  French  had  fallen,  the  King 
himself  was  wounded. — •  He  was  borne  down  by  force  of 
numbers  and  compelled  to  surrender  himself  prisoner.  He 
was  in  a  terrible  condition,  bleeding  so  as  scarcely  to  be 
recognised. —  The  French  army  was  entirely  destroyed;  out 
of  36,000  men,  12,000  lay  dead  on  the  field." 17  Well 
could  Ariosto  cry, — 

"  II   meglio  della  nobilta 
Di  tutta  Francia  alia  campagna  estinto."  18 

17  Oscar  Browning's  "  Age  of  the   Condottieri." 

18  "  Orlando  Furioso,"  canto  XXXIII ;  which  is  continued  by  Mr. 
Rose  thus: 

"  How  many  swords,  how  many  lances,  see 
The   Spaniards   round   the   valiant  monarch  wield. 
Behold !   his  horse  falls  under  him ;  yet  he 
Will  neither  own  himself  subdued  nor  yield. — 
The  monarch  well  defends  him  from  the  foe, 
All  over  bathed  with  blood  of  hostile  slain. 
But  valour  stoops  at  last  to  numbers:  lo! 
The  King  is  taken,  is  conveyed  to  Spain." 


PAVIA  THE  PRIMEVAL  235 

It  was  another  Cannae;  the  best  and  bravest  of  the  noble 
families  of  France  strewed  that  bloody  ground  as  thick  as 
fallen  leaves  in  Autumn.  Gal.  di  San  Severino,  La  Tre- 
mouille,  La  Palisse,  De  Lescun,  the  Dukes  of  Suffolk  and 
Lorraine,  and  hundreds  of  other  famous  soldiers  slept  their 
last  sleep.  Many  others  went  into  Spanish  captivity  with 
their  sovereign;  who  wrote  after  the  disaster  those  famous 
lines  to  his  mother, —  "  De  toutes  choses  ne  m'est  demeure 
que  l'honneur  et  la  vie!  ". 

The  Spaniards,  now  undisputed  masters  of  Lombardy, 
quartered  their  cruel  soldiers  in  Pavia  and  Milan,  and  for 
many  months  indulged  in  a  continuous  orgy  of  plunder,  rape 
and  torture,  that  left  an  ineffaceable  impression  upon  the 
miserable  populace.  The  following  year  they  dethroned 
Duke  Francesco.  In  1527  France  made  another  effort, 
and  a  new  army  under  Lautrec  suddenly  appeared  in  Lom- 
bardy, marched  straight  upon  Pavia,  and  captured  it  by  sur- 
prise. "  During  eight  days  they  barbarously  pillaged  that 
great  city,  under  the  pretence  of  avenging  the  defeat  of  their 
king  under  its  walls." 19  From  this  final  destruction  the 
historic  town  never  recovered.  The  French  marched  away 
southward,  to  perish  before  Naples;  the  vile  Spanish  sway  was 
resumed ;  and  under  it  the  city  steadily  dwindled  away  for 
two  centuries.  Peace  was  made  with  France  in  1529,  and 
Charles  received  the  two  crowns  of  Italy  and  the  Empire 
from  the  Pope  in  1530.  At  the  same  time  he  restored  the 
sickly  Francesco  Sforza  to  his  dukedom  of  Milan;  but  it 
was  for  five  years  only,  for  Francesco  died  in  1535,  and 
while  he  lived  was  but  a  puppet  in  Spanish  hands. 
Wretched  Pavia,  however,  was  not  at  first  included  in  the 
transaction,    but    was    handed    over    to    the    rapacious    and 

19  Sismondi's  "  Italian  Republics,"  Chap.  XV. 


236  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

tyrannical  Leyva,  Charles'  general,  to  be  misruled  and  plun- 
dered as  a  reward  for  his  services. 

But  the  city  and  its  territory  alike  were  now  completely 
ruined.  "  There  were  no  dwellers  in  the  villages,  and  in 
the  once  flourishing  cities  of  Lombardy,  whole  families  might 
be  seen  begging  their  bread.  '  It  is,  sir,'  wrote  Nicholas 
Carew  to  King  Henry  VIII,  '  the  most  pity  to  see  this 
country,  as  we  suppose,  that  ever  was  in  Christendom. — 
Betwixt  Vercelli  and  Pavia  the  whole  country  has  been 
wasted.  We  found  no  man  nor  woman  labouring  in  the 
fields,  and  all  the  way  we  saw  only  three  children,  gathering 
wild  grapes.  The  people  and  children  are  dying  of  hun- 
ger.' "  20  It  was  into  this  desolation  that  there  now  entered, 
to  rend  and  torture  what  little  of  humanity  was  left,  those 
frightful  evils  which  Symonds  called  "  the  seven  Spanish 
devils," —  and  foremost  in  which  were  the  Inquisition  and 
Jesuitry.  Conditions  naturally  grew  still  worse,  year  by 
year,  till  "  wolves  prowled  through  empty  villages  around 
Milan;  in  every  city  the  pestilence  swept  off  its  hundreds 
daily;  manufactures,  commerce,  agriculture,  the  industries 
of  town  and  rural  districts,  ceased;  —  art  and  learning  lan- 
guished ;  there  was  not  a  man  who  ventured  to  speak  out  his 
thought  or  write  the  truth ;  and  over  the  Dead  Sea  of  social 
putrefaction  floated  the  sickening  oil  of  Jesuitical  hypoc- 
risy." 21  Who  can  wonder  that  the  ancient  metropolis  of 
the  Lombards  became  the  insignificant  city  of  today; 
the  wonder  is  that  it  still  exists  at  all. 

It  did,  in  fact,  during  those  two  terrible  Spanish  cen- 
turies, dwindle  into  naught  but  a  shadow  of  a  town,  in  whose 
ruins  dwelt  a  few  hundred  denuded  spectres,  owned  by  some 
scores  of  "  noble   families "   that  eked  out  an  existence  by 

20 Julia  Cartwright's  "Isabella  d'Este." 

21 /.  A.  Symonds'  "The  Catholic  Reaction." 


PAVIA  THE  PRIMEVAL  237 

currying  favour  with  their  rulers;  the  very  same  families 
whose  patricians  of  today  look  boastingly  back  to  the  Spanish 
origin  of  their  pride  and  fortunes.  But  with  the  War  of  the 
Spanish  Succession,  and  the  reversal  of  Lombardy  to  Aus- 
tria in  1715,  came  a  change  for  the  better.  The  great  Em- 
press Maria  Theresa  suppressed  the  fearful  Inquisition,  ex- 
pelled the  Jesuits,  reformed  the  extraordinary  privileges  and 
abuses  of  the  clergy,  abolished  judicial  torture,  founded  and 
endowed  schools,  academies  and  universities,22  patronised  the 
arts  and  sciences,  and  gave  a  new  impetus  and  development 
to  Lombard  agriculture.  Her  son  Joseph  II  was  another 
sincere  reformer,  who  still  further  relieved  the  people  from 
their  unequal  burdens  and  their  thraldom  to  the  Church. 
The  result  was  a  new  life  in  the  plain  of  Lombardy, —  a 
steady  rebuilding  of  Pavia,  and  its  other  ancient  cities. 

The  coming  of  the  great  Revolution  was  not  welcomed 
by  Pavia  as  fervently  as  elsewhere  in  Lombardy.  Still  im- 
perialistic to  the  bottom,  she  showed  a  hostile  front  to  Bona- 
parte's exhortations;  and,  when  he  had  advanced  into  Vene- 
tia,  she  fathered  a  wide-spread  revolt  against  his  garrisons 
which,  though  unsuccessful  in  Milan,  cleared  her  own  streets 
of  the  French  invaders.  "  Bonaparte  hastened  himself  to 
Pavia,  the  seat  of  the  revolt;  and  storming  the  town,  delivered 
it  over  to  sack  and  pillage,  and  restored  order.  The  people 
had  spared  the  lives  of  his  soldiers;  he  shot  the  popular 
chiefs,  and  declared  that  if  the  blood  of  one  Frenchman  had 
been  shed,  he  would  have  erected  a  tall  column  bearing  the 
inscription, — "  Here  stood  the  city  of  Pavia!  "  23     Such  was 

22  It  is  to  this  Empress,  and  Joseph  II,  that  the  remarkable  re- 
vival of  Pavia's  historic  university  is  due,  as  well  as  the  rebuilding 
of  several  other  institutions. 

23  G.    Hooper's   "  Italian    Campaigns   of   Gen.   Bonaparte." 


238  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

the  old  town's  final  disaster, —  upon  a  final  manifestation 
of  her  seemingly  ineradicable  imperialism. 

When  Napoleon  became  imperial,  Pavia  was  content,  and 
greeted  him  upon  his  arrival  with  Josephine  in  1805,  on 
their  way  to  the  coronation  at  Milan,  with  unanimous  and 
loyal  "  Vivas."  "  The  people  of  all  ranks,"  says  Lady  Mor- 
gan, "  came  to  meet  this  Caesar  of  the  day,  as  his  imperial 
barge  was  wafted  down  the  classic  waves  of  the  Po. —  An 
elegant  Bucentoro  transferred  them,  with  their  suite,  to  our 
shores. —  The  cannon  fired  a  salute,  to  which  the  vivas  of 
the  spectators  replied. —  Then  came  prefects,  and  corporate 
bodies,  from  all  the  departments,  to  do  homage  to  their 
sovereign. —  Pavia  was  brilliantly  illuminated  to  receive  her 
new  Theodoric;  and  she  appointed  for  his  body-guard  the 
elite  of  her  population."  2i 

The  Emperor's  first  visit  was  to  the  city's  one  great  and 
lasting  institution,  the  University,  whose  first  foundations, 
as  the  oration  of  the  welcoming  Rector  reminded  him,  were 
laid  by  his  glorious  predecessor,  Charlemagne.  Gian  Gale- 
azzo  had  richly  endowed  it;  Lodovico  il  Moro  had  raised  it 
to  its  early  pinnacle  of  greatness;  and,  after  the  ruin  of  the 
Spanish  era,  Maria  Theresa  had  revivified  it,  placed  it  in 
the  splendid  new  buildings  that  yet  exist,  and  started  it  upon 
a  new  prosperity.  It  remained  for  Napoleon  to  imitate  the 
Moro,  and  cap  it  with  a  second  climax  of  aggrandisement. 
Nobly  he  performed  the  task,  making  it  "  an  object  of  mu- 
nificent protection  to  the  new  government  of  the  Kingdom 
of  Italy."  The  present  government  has  continued  such 
fostering  care;  so  that,  though  the  institution  may  not  quite 
equal  its  supremacy  of  Sforza  days — when  it  had  3,000 
students,  and  90  professors  the  most  illustrious  of  the  world, 
—  still  it  is  one  of  the  two  or  three  foremost  in  Italy's  total 

24  Lady  Morgan's  "  Italy." 


PAVIA  THE  PRIMEVAL  239 

of  twenty-one,  with  numerous  and  varied  colleges,  a  huge 
library  of  200,000  volumes,  and  important  collections  cov- 
ering nearly  every  branch  of  science  and  art.  To  it  is  due 
the  reputation  of  Pavia  of  today,  which  is  embodied  in  For- 
syth's dictum:  "This  is  the  present  metropolis  of  Italian 
science."  25 

But  there  was  another  institution  associated  with  Pavia, 
it  will  be  remembered,  which  was  fully  as  important  to  her 
prosperity  as  the  University :  this  was  the  old  canal  to  Milan ; 
and  Napoleon  again  followed  the  Moro's  example  in  putting 
this,  at  large  expense,  into  an  effective  condition.  The  re- 
sulting traffic  has  done  more  than  aught  else  to  restore  the 
city  to  a  state  of  comparative  wealth  and  comeliness.  Upon 
looking  at  the  map,  where  the  town  appears  in  the  shape  of 
an  irregular  hexagon  upon  the  northern  bank  of  the  Ticino, 
one  sees  the  canal  approaching  straight  from  the  north  and 
striking  the  hexagon  beside  its  northernmost  point,  whence  it 
diverges  along  the  eastern  fortifications  to  the  river.  The 
extensive  main  docks  and  warehouses  lie  beside  it  without 
the  northern  gate,  Porta  Milano, —  just  on  the  outer  side  of 
the  Castello.  The  hexagon  has  two  sides  upon  the  west, 
and  three  upon  the  east,  the  latter  forming  the  longer  line, 
because  the  Ticino  here  flows  to  the  southeast.  Upon  the 
sixth  side,  formed  by  the  stream  itself,  a  famous  old  covered, 
bridge  crosses  to  the  small  suburb  on  the  southern  bank, 
carrying,  as  did  its  predecessors,  the  ancient  Roman  high- 
way to  Genoa  and  the  south. 

This  highway,  approaching  from  Milan  beside  the  canal, 
enters  by  the  Porta  Milano,  and  traverses  the  middle  of  the 
city  in  a  straight  line  to  the  bridge,  forming  thus  from 
earliest  ages  the  one  principal  thoroughfare  of  the  town. 
Now  it  has,  of  course,  been  renamed  the  Corso  Vittorio 
25  Forsyth's  "  Excursions  in  Italy." 


240  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

Emanuele.  Near  its  centre,  and  one  block  on  the  west, 
lies  the  principal  Piazza  Grande,  with  the  Duomo  upon  its 
southern  side;  from  which  extends  the  wide  Corso  Cavour 
to  the  single  western  gate,  of  the  same  name,  beside  the 
great  bastion  in  the  middle  of  that  side  of  the  fortifications; 
and  just  without  this  stands  the  railway  station.  An  east- 
ward continuation  of  Corso  Cavour,  the  Via  Mazzini,  runs 
to  the  Piazza  and  large  Palazzo  of  the  Municipio.  These 
two  main  avenues  thus  divide  the  city  into  four  quarters,  of 
which  that  on  the  southeast  is  considerably  larger,  on  account 
of  the  extension  of  river  and  town  in  that  direction ;  and 
this  is  itself  divided  by  the  third  chief  avenue,  Corso  Gari- 
baldi, which  extends  midway  between  Via  Mazzini  and  the 
Ticino,  from  Corso  Vittorio  Emanuele  to  the  main  east- 
ern gate,  Porta  Garibaldi.  Without  this  lie  the  cemetery, 
and  a  subsidiary  railway  station  on  the  branch  to  Cremona, 
which  is  connected  with  the  main  station  by  a  line  curving 
around  just  outside  the  city  walls. 

It  was  a  beautiful  May  morning  when  I  approached 
Pavia,  upon  an  express  train  from  Milan;  and  as  we  trav- 
ersed the  level  meadows  between  the  Certosa  and  the  ancient 
city,  and  I  gazed  out  over  their  fruitful  expanse  of  smiling 
crops  and  orchards,  brightened  by  numerous  shining  farm- 
houses with  their  out-buildings,  it  was  difficult  to  realise  it 
as  the  scene  of  one  of  the  most  momentous  battles  of  all 
history.     Here  indeed  would  apply  those  lines  of  Macaulay: 

"  Now  on  the  place  of  slaughter 
Are  cots  and  sheepfolds  seen, 
And  rows  of  vines,  and  fields  of  wheat, 
And  apple-orchards  green  — 
Little  they  think  they  on  those  strong  limbs 
That  moulder  deep  below."  26 

26  Macaulay's  "  Battle  of  Lake  Regillus." 


PAVIA  THE  PRIMEVAL  241 

When  the  huge  northern  bastion  of  the  city  walls  loomed 
before  us,  we  parted  company  from  the  canal,  diverging  to 
right  along  the  western  ramparts,  whose  imposing  brick 
structures  were  crowned  with  modern  avenues  of  trees.  In 
another  minute  the  large  covered  station  was  entered ;  and 
descending,  I  climbed  into  the  'bus  of  the  famous  old  inn 
of  the  Croce  Bianca,  and  we  rattled  away  over  cobble-stones 
through  the  Porta  Cavour,  down  the  Corso  of  the  same 
name.  The  hostelry  proved  to  be  situated  most  centrally, 
at  the  very  intersection  of  the  two  main  thoroughfares,  and 
to  be  of  the  most  pleasing  old-fashioned  style,  which 
combines  antique  comfort  and  quaintness  with  modern 
cleanliness  and  low  prices.  When  I  say  cleanliness,  I  am 
necessarily  speaking  comparatively,  confining  my  thoughts 
to  the  smaller  cities  of  the  peninsula.  A  woman,  more- 
over, is  often  shocked  by  what  a  mere  man  will  never  see. 
But  I  know  that  my  stay  in  Pavia  was  made  very  pleasant. 

Sallying  out  at  once  for  my  first  promenade,  I  made  for 
the  Piazza  Grande  a  block  to  the  west,  my  spirits  exalted 
with  those  keen  sensations  which  Rogers  has  so  well  ex- 
pressed :  "  The  day  we  come  to  a  place  which  we  have  long 
heard  and  read  of,  and  in  Italy  we  do  so  continually,  is  an 
era  in  our  lives;  and  from  that  moment  the  very  name  calls 
up  a  picture.  How  delightfully  too  does  knowledge  flow 
in  upon  us,  and  how  fast." —  What  a  splendid  first  picture 
was  this  glorious  old  piazza  now  opened  before  me,  three  or 
four  blocks  in  length  from  north  to  south,  and  half  as  wide, 
surrounded  on  all  sides  by  enchanting  mediaeval  houses  of 
lofty  stature,  painted  in  all  the  proverbial  colours  of  the 
rainbow,  and  rising  upon  stuccoed  gothic  arcades  with  heavy 
pillars.  The  fagades  wound  in  and  out,  curving  irregularly 
this  way  and  that,  pierced  by  windows  of  every  age  and 
style.     Under    the    shadowy    arches    lay    still    darker   little 


242  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

shops  and  cafes,  thronged  by  gesticulating  people.  The 
wide  central  space  was  filled  with  a  village  of  wooden 
booths,  of  canvas  roofs  and  umbrellas,  exposing  every  kind 
of  eatable  and  household  article, —  an  agitated  sea  of  colours, 
moved  by  the  vociferous  crowd  of  bargainers.  Midway  it 
was  broken  by  a  flowing  column  of  vehicles  and  pedestrians, 
crossing  transversely, —  the  traffic  of  the  Corso  Cavour, 
which  exactly  bisects  the  long  parallelogram.27 

The  buildings,  though  picturesque,  were  not  noteworthy, 
with  two  exceptions:  in  the  middle  of  the  western  side  was 
one  facade  bearing  the  remains  of  a  huge  Tiepolesque  fresco, 
of  the  Madonna  amidst  various  mitred  saints;  on  the  south 
side  rose  a  stately  Renaissance  edifice,  fronted  by  a  three- 
storied  colonnade  of  grey  and  white  stone  shafts  upon  stucco 
railings,  and  surmounted  by  a  clock-faced  gable.  This  was 
the  ancient  Broletto,  which  was  for  nearly  1,000  years  the 
centre  of  the  city's  administration.28  Behind  this  loomed 
the  massive  brick  choir,  and  upon  its  right,  the  left  transept, 
of  the  Cathedral  that  was  rebuilt  by  the  Moro, —  which 
fronts  to  the  west  upon  a  separate  piazza;  and  far  above 
them  soared  into  the  sky  its  gigantic  dome, —  consisting  of 
an  octagonal  brick  drum  of  unfinished  sides,  a  leaden  cupola, 
an  octagonal  grey  stone  colonnade,  and  a  two-storied  lantern 
of  the  same  material,  tipped  with  a  gilded  cross.  The  bells, 
however,  were  visible  in  a  lower,  baroque  tower  this  side 
of  the  dome,  protruding  ponderously  from  the  arches  of  the 
little  belfry. 

27  This  central  space  of  the  city,  for  centuries  the  hub  of  its 
mediaeval  and  Renaissance  life,  was  formerly  fronted  by  the  Pa- 
lazzo del  Comune, —  now  disappeared;  here  were  held  the  countless 
pageants  of  those  lively  generations, —  including  the  celebrated 
tournament  of  1587,  about  the  last  of  its  kind  in  Lombardy. 

28  Here  in  1175  was  entertained  Frederick  Barbarossa.  The  logge 
were  added  about  1563. 


PAVIA  THE  PRIMEVAL  243 

I  walked  round  to  the  smaller  Piazza  del  Duomo,  to  view 
the  curious  facade,  which  was  left  unbuilt  in  the  Renaissance 
era,  and  only  partly  completed  in  1898.  Except  for  two 
colonnaded  galleries  of  marble  or  whitish  stone,  crossing  the 
front  at  its  middle  and  top,  it  was  entirely  of  rough  brick, 
painted  a  reddish  hue  with  drab  buttresses  and  window- 
frames;  its  three  vertical  divisions  contained  each  a  plain 
portal,  surmounted  by  a  circular  window  between  the  gal- 
leries. But  that  which  instantly  engaged  my  attention  to 
a  greater  extent,  was  the  extraordinary  campanile  rising 
beside  it  on  the  left, —  the  so-called  Torre  Maggiore, —  a 
monstrous  erection  of  the  12th  or  13th  century,  whose 
massive,  quadrangular  brick  walls  ascended  without  an  aper- 
ture till  they  reached  the  ornate  renaissance  belfry,  256  feet 
above  the  pavement;  the  latter  was  of  grey  stone,  with 
double  arches  on  each  face,  adorned  with  coupled  columns 
and  pilasters,  upholding  a  heavy  entablature, —  and  looked 
incongruous  enough  upon  such  a  typical  mediaeval  tower. 
This  was  emphasised  by  the  ruinous  romanesque  architecture 
about  its  base, —  the  congregated  remains  of  the  adjacent 
church  of  S.  Stefano  which  preceded  the  present  Duomo, — 
including  a  fine  stone  doorway,  quadruply  recessed,  with 
byzantine  designs  upon  its  mouldings  and  tympanum;  over 
which  lingered  two  fascinating  early  windows,  also  deeply  re- 
cessed,—  one  with  six  concentric  mouldings,  the  other  double- 
arched,  and  divided  by  quaint  little  shafts  one  behind  the 
other;  while  scattered  about  in  the  brick  wall  were  various 
other  romanesque  fragments  and  bits  of  coeval  sculpture. 

These  are  all  that  are  left  of  the  pre-existing  church  of 
S.  Stefano,  a  famous  Lombard  edifice,  remodelled  in  the 
twelfth  century,  which  Lodovico  cleared  away  in  1488  in 
order  to  erect  his  more  ambitious  pile.  For  the  latter  he 
commissioned  Bramante  to  make  the  plans,  assisted  by  Dolce- 


244  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

buono  and  Cristoforo  Rocchi ; —  though  the  last  two  seem 
rather  to  have  superintended  the  actual  building,  aided  also 
by  Ventura  Vitone  and  Amadeo.  The  hand  of  the  great  Bra- 
mante  was  visible  as  soon  as  I  entered;  for  I  found  myself 
under  one  of  his  typical  imposing  constructions,  in  the  form 
of  a  Latin  cross  beneath  a  mighty  dome.  The  tremendous 
size  and  majesty  of  this  dome  dwarfed  to  insignificance  the 
short  arms  of  the  cross, —  so  spacious  was  it  in  breadth,  so 
ponderous  in  its  huge  supporting  blocks  of  white  granite,  so 
glistening  in  their  polished  surfaces  and  its  flood  of  showering 
light ;  and  it  towered  to  heaven  above  the  uncluttered  marble 
pavement  as  if  it  would  pierce  the  clouds,  higher  even  than 
the  great  tower  without, —  an  even  300  feet  above  the  floor. 
The  nave  also  was  lofty,  its  ribbed  vaulting  supported  by 
three  huge  piers  on  each  side,  composed  of  clustered  square 
pillars  with  Corinthian  caps,  which  also  divided  off  the  lower, 
vaulted  aisles,  with  their  semicircular  altar-recesses.  These 
last  were  separated  by  clustered  corinthian  pilasters,  mount- 
ing to  a  heavy  cornice.  Over  the  broad  arches  connecting 
the  piers,  along  the  upper  walls  of  the  nave,  ran  a  series  of 
colonnaded  niches.  All  was  constructed  of  the  same  pol- 
ished  granite. 

The  vast  octagonal  rotunda  of  the  dome  formed  a  pro- 
longation of  the  nave,  still  wider,  into  which  the  aisles 
opened  freely,  and  beyond  which  they  were  continued  be- 
side the  deep,  elevated  choir.  From  six  of  the  eight  of  the 
ambulatory  surrounding  the  rotunda  (the  seventh  being  the 
opening  of  the  nave,  and  eighth  that  of  the  choir)  projected 
giant  recessed  archways  in  the  master's  usual  manner,  upheld 
by  enormous  piers  with  double  cornices  and  many  angles. 
The  left-hand  recess  held  simply  an  ugly  baroque  altar;  the 
right-hand  one  formed  a  raised  chapel,  with  modern  reliefs 
on  its  walls  and  above  and  below  its  altar.     The  choir  termi- 


PAVIA  THE  PRIMEVAL  245 

nated  in  an  apse  pierced  by  a  window  of  blue  stained  glass; 
and  from  this  there  fell  a  strange,  ghastly  radiance  upon  the 
coffined  bier  standing  before  the  high-altar,  with  its  burning 
candles, —  while  from  its  dusk  echoed  the  hollow,  sepulchral 
chant  of  the  service  for  the  dead. 

The  altars  and  walls  of  the  aisles  were  adorned  with 
various  paintings  of  the  later  Renaissance,  of  which  but  two 
were  noteworthy, —  those  on  the  right  and  left  of  the  nave 
just  before  the  rotunda,  by  D.  and  G.  B.  Crespi.  The  more 
important  pictures,  by  Gatti  and  Gianpetrino,  had  been  re- 
moved to  the  city  museum.  In  the  crypt  beneath  the  choir 
I  was  shown  a  very  richly  sculptured  altar  of  the  decadent 
period,  dedicated  to  S.  Siro,  the  patron  saint  of  the  church, 
who  was  the  first  bishop  of  the  city;  Tommaso  Orsolini  was 
the  artist.  On  emerging  from  the  Duomo  I  noticed  the 
Palazzo  Vescovile  opposite, —  a  large,  stuccoed  building,  with 
a  handsome  renaissance  arcade,  supported  on  coupled  columns. 

Returning  to  the  main  street,  the  Corso  Vittorio  Eman- 
uele,  I  started  to  walk  up  its  northern  portion,  confined 
between  three-  and  four-storied  buildings  of  stained  and  crum- 
bling stucco,  several  centuries  old  for  the  most  part.  Here 
there  were  few  shops,  and  but  an  occasional  cafe, — which 
are  mostly  to  be  found  in  its  southern  half,  and  upon  the 
Corso  Cavour.  I  had  taken  not  a  hundred  paces  when, 
upon  the  right  side,  I  came  to  the  great  edifice  of  the  Uni- 
versity; it  was  fully  300  yards  in  length,  but  only  two 
stories  in  height,  of  plain  stucco,  with  barred  lower  windows 
and  a  heavy  cornice ;  —  the  same  building  which  was  begun 
by  Lodovico   Sforza,   and   finished   under   Maria  Theresa.29 

29  Here  Christopher  Columbus,  about  1450,  came  to  perfect  his 
studies  in  cosmography,  astrology,  and  nautical  science;  and  it  was 
here,  a  generation  later,  that  the  genius  of  Leonardo  da  Vinci  de- 
veloped, upon  the  studies  of  natural  and  anatomical  science. 


246  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

Some  of  the  rear  portions  are  of  other  periods,  so  that  it 
might  better  be  called  a  congeries  of  buildings,  as  it  is  of 
colleges.  Five  separate  quadrangles  extend  parallel  with 
the  Corso,  entered  from  it  by  short  passages;  though  usually 
all  the  ingresses  are  closed  except  the  central.  As  I  ap- 
proached, large  numbers  of  students  were  promenading  the 
avenue,  lounging  about  the  corridors,  and  filling  the  courts 
with  disputatious  groups.  Looking  at  their  conventional 
modern  garb,  I  thought  of  the  priestly  gowns  forced  upon 
them  in  Spanish  days,  and  of  the  military  uniforms  and 
cocked  hats  in  which  they  swaggered  under  Napoleon. 

Entering  the  middle  quadrangle,  I  found  it  imposingly 
surrounded  by  two  stories  of  arcades,  with  coupled,  mono- 
lithic, granite  columns,  and  adorned  by  a  statue  of  Volta 
in  the  centre;  round  the  walls  were  many  sculptured  memo- 
rials to  past  teachers  and  scholars,  some  of  them  quite  hand- 
some,—  especially  the  Leonardesque  relief  to  Prof.  Bugitella, 
and  another  of  1495  showing  four  charming  Raphaelesque 
pupils  seated  on  a  bench,  listening  to  a  lecture.  The  other 
courts,  reached  by  connecting  corridors,  proved  similar  in 
style  and  ornamentation ;  exceptionally  numerous  were  their 
busts  and  tablets  to  the  honoured  dead, —  while  one  contained 
two  well  preserved  columns  of  the  Roman  city,  and  various 
stone  and  terracotta  architectural  fragments  of  the  Gothic 
period.  Between  the  second  and  third  courts  mounted  the 
handsome  marble  staircase  to  the  upper  floor.  The  spa- 
cious Library,  the  Hall  of  Natural  History,  the  Gallery  of 
Animal  Life,  200  feet  in  length,  in  fact  all  the  different 
cabinets  of  the  collections,  were  striking  in  themselves  and 
most  interesting  in   their  contents. 

The  distant  collegated  botanical  garden,  with  its  varied  hot- 
houses and  assembled  exotics,  later  afforded  me  a  lively 
pleasure;  and  the  Gran  Sala  of  the  attached  Collegio  Bor- 


PAVIA  THE  PRIMEVAL  247 

romeo,  in  the  extreme  southeastern  angle  of  the  city,  which 
was  founded  by  Cardinal  Borromeo  and  erected  by  Pelle- 
grino  Pellegrini,  and  which  is  still  used  for  the  conferring  of 
degrees  and  other  important  gatherings, —  proved  magnifi- 
cent both  in  form  and  decorations.  Its  extensive  late- 
Renaissance  frescoes  by  Federico  Zucchio,  were  worth  seeing 
for  their  ornamental  quality,  as  a  complete  decorative  effect. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

PAVIA  THE  PIOUS 

"Saint  Augustine!  Well  hast  thou  said, 
That  of  our  vices  we  can  frame 
A  ladder,  if  we  will  but  tread 

Beneath  our  feet  each  deed  of  shame!  " 

Longfellow. 

In  the  afternoon  I  continued  my  walk  upon  the  Corso  Vit- 
torio  Emanuele,  proceeding  farther  north.  Though  the 
chief  thoroughfare  of  the  city,  it  was  only  eight  or  ten  yards 
wide  from  wall  to  wall;  opposite  the  University,  and  upon 
both  sides  beyond,  it  was  shadowed  by  the  old  mouldering 
stuccoed  palaces  of  the  Pavian  noble  families,  interspersed 
with  occasional  churches  and  public  buildings.  Among  the 
latter  were  the  stuccoed  palace  of  the  Provincial  Council, 
and  the  plain  brick  Prefettura,  both  opposite  the  University's 
northern  end;  before  them  rose  a  modern  monument  to 
Italy,  represented  as  a  female  with  castellated  crown,  bear- 
ing a  shield  with  these  words  inscribed, — "  Ai  Pavesi  Caduti 
per  la  Patria."  x  Several  blocks  farther  north,  an  extraor- 
dinarily wide  avenue  opened  to  the  west,  shaded  by  four 
rows  of  horsechestnut  trees,  running  between  simple  dwell- 
ings to  the  distant  ramparts;  it  was  the  so-called  Allea  di 
Piazza  Castello,  which  was  laid  out  by  the  French  during 
their  short  occupation.  The  Castle  itself  here  appeared  upon 
the  right,  facing  southwesterly  toward  me,  at  the  rear  of  a 

1 "  To  the  Pavians  fallen  for  their  country."     A  memorial  of  the 
Risorgimento. 

248 


PAVIA  THE  PIOUS  249 

broad  piazza.  Behind  this  extensive  space,  bare  except  for 
a  monument  to  Garibaldi  surrounded  by  flowerbeds,  I  saw 
an  enormous,  square,  brick  edifice,  three  stories  in  height,  with 
four-storied  quadrangular  towers  at  the  angles,  and  numer- 
ous large  pointed  windows  in  pleasing  terracotta  frames, 
placed  at  regular  intervals;  those  in  the  towers  were  double- 
arched,  and  divided  by  gleaming  marble  mullions; 
machicolated,  forked  battlements  crowned  every  wall;  around 
it  still  stretched  the  wide,  deep  moat,  crossed  at  the  front- 
centre  by  a  solid  modern  bridge;  the  latter  was  arched 
midway  by  the  old  guard-tower,  which  formerly,  as  its 
apertures  showed,  served  to  raise  a  pair  of  drawbridges. 

This  central  structure,  or  palazzo  proper,  was  all  that 
now  remained  of  the  once  glorious  fortress;  gone  were  all 
its  outer  buildings  and  wide-sweeping  fortifications,  which 
formerly  covered  the  broad  empty  areas  today  extending 
upon  three  sides.  In  the  rear  it  still  abuts  directly  upon  the 
city's  northeastern  rampart.  Shorn  of  its  ennobling  encein- 
ture,  the  desolate  palazzo  exhibited  its  ruined  state  in  the 
discoloured  walls,  and  windows  blocked  up  except  for  small, 
square-headed  openings.  It  was  now  desecrated  —  for  so  it 
seemed  to  me  —  to  the  uses  of  a  barrack,  and  soldiers  lounged 
about  the  bridge  and  unframed  portal ;  I  was  obliged  to  secure 
the  permission  of  the  officer  of  the  guard  in  order  to  enter. 
Traversing  the  vaulted  passage,  I  stood  in  the  spacious  court- 
yard that  had  glittered  so  often  with  the  pageantry  of 
Sforza  and  Visconti,  and  gazed  upon  the  very  windows  from 
which  had  hung  the  laughing  Beatrice  and  her  fair  bevy  of 
noble  maidens.  The  grand  colonnades  of  the  ground  story, 
that  then  surrounded  it  upon  three  sides,  were  now  bricked 
up ;  but  the  splendid  second-story  gallery  of  the  front  side 
still  remained,  glistening  as  of  old  in  its  white  stone  columns 


25o  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

and  gothic  arches;  and  upon  the  other  sides  lingered  the 
fine  cotta  mouldings  of  the  large  pointed  windows.2 

Within,  the  denudation  was  complete;  naught  survived 
in  these  bare  halls  and  dormitories  to  indicate  that  wealth 
of  furnishing  which  under  the  hands  of  the  splendour-loving 
Galeazzo  Visconti  had  made  this  the  most  celebrated  royal 
residence  in  Europe.  Vainly  I  tried  to  imagine  in  this 
ruined  setting  the  magnificence  of  his  famous  shows,  or  the 
ostentatious  weddings  of  his  daughter  Violante  to  the  Duke 
of  Clarence,  son  of  King  Edward  III,  and  of  his  son  Gian 
Galeazzo  to  Isabella,  daughter  of  King  John  of  France. 
On  the  former  occasion  Galeazzo  made  such  "  splendid  pres- 
ents to  more  than  200  Englishmen,  that  he  was  reckoned  to 
have  outdone  the  greatest  kings  in  generosity.  At  the  ban- 
quet Gian  Galeazzo,  the  bride's  brother,  brought  to  the 
table  with  each  course  fresh  gifts.  At  one  time  it  was  a 
matter  of  sixty  most  beautiful  horses  with  trappings  of  silk 
and  silver;  at  another,  plate,  hawks,  hounds,  horse-gear,  fine 
cuirasses,  suits  of  armour  fashioned  of  wrought  steel,  helmets 
adorned  with  crests,  surcoats  embroidered  with  pearls,  belts, 
precious  jewels  set  in  gold,  and  crimson  stuff  for  making 
raiment.  Such  was  the  profusion  of  this  banquet  that  the 
remnants  taken  from  the  table  were  enough  and  to  spare  for 
10,000  men.  Petrarch,  we  may  remember,  assisted  at  this 
festival  and  sat  among  the  princes."  3 

It  was  of  that  occasion  that  Symonds  also  well  remarked : 

2  This  famous  palace-fortress,  which  Petrarch  in  his  letter  to  Boc- 
caccio called  "  the  most  noble  among  modern  works,"  was  certainly 
the  foremost  of  its  time  in  luxury  and  decoration.  Amongst  its  dc 
signers  were  probably  Bernardo  da  Venezia,  first  architect  of  the 
Certosa,  and  Bonino  da  Campione,  who  fashioned  the  Area  of  S. 
Agostino.  Amongst  its  painters,  of  different  epochs,  were  the  re- 
nowned Foppa  of  Brescia  and  Bonifazio  Bembo  of  Cremona. 

8  Symonds'  "  Age  of  the  Despots." 


PAVIA  THE  PIOUS  251 

"It  must  have  been  a  strange  experience  for  this  brother 
of  the  Black  Prince,  leaving  London,  where  the  streets  were 
still  unpaved,  the  houses  thatched,  the  beds  laid  on  straw, 
and  where  wine  was  sold  as  medicine,  to  pass  into  the  luxuri- 
ous palaces  of  Lombardy,  walled  with  marble,  and  raised 
high  above  smooth  streets  of  stone."  At  the  second  marriage, 
also  celebrated  in  these  walls,  Galeazzo  indulged  in  a  similar 
extravagance,  besides  paying  some  600,000  florins  to  Isa- 
bella's brother  Charles. 

It  was  equally  difficult  today  to  call  up  any  picture  of 
these  halls  and  chambers  in  their  greater  wealth  of  decoration 
under  the  rule  of  Gian  Galeazzo,  who  during  his  early  years 
of  residence  here  spent  vast  sums  upon  the  castle.  Having 
"discovered  several  plots  directed  against  him  —  he  shut 
himself  up  in  his  castle  of  Pavia — doubled  his  guard,  and 
took  pains  to  display  his  belief  that  he  was  surrounded  by 
assassins.  He  affected,  at  the  same  time,  the  highest  devo- 
tion: he  was  always  at  prayers,  a  rosary  in  his  hand,  sur- 
rounded by  monks."  4  While  thus  engaged  in  deceiving  his 
uncle  Barnabas,  and  preparing  the  way  for  his  coup-de-main, 
he  spent  much  time  upon  his  famous  collection  of  saintly 
relics,  and  his  wonderful  library,  in  which  Petrarch  laboured 
during  a  long  stay  to  arrange  and  translate  the  precious 
manuscripts.  During  that  wretched  sack  of  1527,  when  the 
Christian  French  ruined  the  castle,  and  did  more  damage 
to  Pavia  than  any  of  the  hosts  of  barbarians,  those  invaluable 
manuscripts  and  volumes  of  ancient  lore,  which  only  the 
wealth  and  power  of  a  Gian  Galeazzo  could  have  collected, 
were  seized  by  General  Lautrec  as  a  part  of  his  personal 
plunder,   and   irretrievably   dispersed. 

With  still  more  difficulty  could  I  call  up  those  more  mar- 
vellous decorations  of   the   height   of   the   Renaissance,   laid 

4  Sismondi's  "  Italian  Republics." 


252  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

on  by  the  Sforzas,  and  amongst  which  their  tragedy  was 
staged.  "  The  vaulted  halls  were  painted  with  the  finest 
ultramarine  and  gold ;  and  the  arms  of  Sforzas  and  Viscontis, 
the  lilies  of  France  and  the  red  cross  of  Savoy,  appeared  on 
the  groined  roof  between  planets  and  stars  of  raised  gold. 
The  vast  Sala  della  Palla,  where  the  dukes  and  their  courtiers 
indulged  in  their  favourite  pastime  of  '  pall-mall ' —  which 
Burckhardt  calls  the  classic  game  of  the  Renaissance, —  was 
decorated  with  frescoes  by  the  best  artists  of  Pavia  and 
Cremona,  representing  fishing  and  hunting  scenes.  Por- 
traits of  the  dukes  and  duchesses  were  introduced,  together 
with  lions  and  tigers,  wild  boars,  and  stags  flying  before 
the  hounds,  in  the  forest  shades  or  on  the  open  moor.  The 
ballroom  was  adorned  with  historic  subjects  from  the  lives 
of  the  earlier  Viscontis.  The  poet  Petrarch  was  seen,  de- 
livering an  oration  before  the  duke;  and  Gian  Galeazzo 
was  represented,  seated  at  a  festive  board  laden  with  gold  and 
silver  plate,  entertaining  foreign  ambassadors, —  while 
huntsmen  and  falconers  with  horses  and  dogs  awaited  his 
pleasure.  Of  later  date  were  the  frescoes  in  the  Duchess' 
room,  representing  the  marriage  of  Galeazzo  Sforza  at  the 
French  court,  and  the  reception  of  Bona  of  Savoy  at  Genoa; 
while  the  paintings  which  adorned  the  chapel  had  only 
lately  been  completed  by  Vincenzo  Foppa  and  Bonifazio  da 
Cremona."  5  And  of  all  this  glory,  sad  to  say,  hardly  a  single 
vestige  now  remains,  except  a  frescoed  figure  of  Christ  in 
the  entrance  to  the  former  chapel. 

On  returning  to  the  Corso,  I  noticed  the  strange  monu- 
ment of  Garibaldi,  which  is  composed  of  imitation  rocks 
and  earth  formed  by  composite,  rising  to  a  height  of  some 
20  feet,  with  a  marble  lion  at  the  base,  a  weeping  female 
Italia  standing  halfway  to  the  summit,  and  a  bronze  statue 

5  Julia  Cartwright's  "  Beatrice  d'Este." 


PAVIA  THE  PIOUS  253 

of  the  hero  upon  the  top.  At  the  western  angle  of  the 
Corso  with  the  Piazza  I  observed  a  simple  private  palace 
which  is  dear  to  every  Pavian  heart, —  the  Palazzo  Cairoli, 
that  was  for  many  generations  the  home  of  the  distinguished 
noble  family  of  that  name,  and  from  which  its  five  celebrated 
sons  departed  to  offer  their  lives  for  Italian  freedom.  In 
it,  as  an  inscription  records,  Garibaldi  rested  for  awhile  in 
the  stormy  days  of  '48,  and  spoke  therefrom  eloquently  to 
the  citizens. 

As  it  grew  late  in  the  afternoon,  the  Corso  was  thronged 
with  pedestrians,  and  antiquated,  coroneted  vehicles  bearing 
the  relics  of  noble  families,  taking  their  solemn,  daily  out- 
ing. These  were  the  modern  "  Spagnuolissimi,"  mentioned 
by  Lady  Morgan  as  the  "  party  full  of  the  old  Spanish 
prejudices,  and  devoted  to  the  descendants  and  representa- 
tives of  Charles  the  Fifth ;  —  all  coming  forth  "  per  pigliar 
il  fresco"  (to  take  the  fresh  air)  as  they  call  swallowing 
dust  and  perspiring  between  rows  of  heated  walls,  which 
render  the  street  an  oven." 

Advancing  halfway  down  the  A  Ilea,  I  observed  upon  its 
right  a  renaissance  palace  with  a  handsome  court,  adorned 
with  interior  colonnades  and  further  courts,  all  prettily 
planted  with  shrubs  and  flowers, —  the  Teatro  Guidi ;  and 
turning  by  it  to  the  north,  in  about  200  paces  more  I  reached 
a  sequestered,  silent,  triangular  piazza,  bounded  by  simple 
dwellings,  with  the  famous  church  of  S.  Pietro  in  Ciel  d'Oro 
upon  the  east.     This  Lombard  relic  of  the   12th  century6 

6  The  original  building  was  of  the  seventh  century;  during  the 
eighth  King  Luitprand  raised  the  connecting  Benedictine  monastery, 
and  transferred  to  the  church  those  bones  of  St.  Augustine  which 
drew  upon  it  the  attention  of  the  Catholic  world.  Charlemagne  in 
774  instituted  an  annexed  school. —  The  present  facade  dates  from 
about  1490. 


254  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

had  an  unpainted  brick  faqade,  with  a  portal,  window-frames 
and  buttresses  of  grey  stone;  the  portal  was  quadruply  re- 
cessed, with  romanesque  carvings  upon  the  mouldings,  and 
a  quaintly  sculptured  Virgin  in  the  lunette  between  two 
archaic  devotees;  the  windows  were  small  but  double-arched, 
with  slender  octagonal  shafts,  upon  the  second  story,  and 
single-arched  upon  the  third ;  while  the  interesting  frieze 
consisted  of  an  arcade  upon  detached  columns,  surmounted 
by  a  cornice  of  inter-crossed  round  arches.  It  was  thor- 
oughly dilapidated,  and  looked  its  age.  Inside,  I  found  a 
dark  vaulted  nave  with  red  ribs,  upheld  by  stone  pillars  with 
romanesque  caps,  flanked  by  low  aisles  with  little  windows 
instead  of  altars ;  the  choir  was  considerably  elevated,  with 
central  steps,  flanked  by  other  steps  descending  to  the  crypt, 
and  the  aisles  continued  along  beside  it,  at  their  own  level ; 
the  front  of  the  crypt,  and  the  frescoes  of  the  terminal  apse, 
were  portions  of  the  restoration  effected  about  1880;  at 
which  time  the  crypt  was  excavated  from  its  mass  of  ac- 
cumulated rubbish  and  its  24  columns  were  renewed.  In  the 
centre  of  the  high  choir  stood  Pavia's  great  shrine,  the  cele- 
brated Area  of  St.  Augustine,  which  is  one  of  the  finest 
productions  of  the  early  Renaissance. 

It  is  in  the  Pisan  style,  having  been  executed  —  as  the 
best  authorities  now  agree  —  by  Matteo  and  Bonino  da 
Campione,  about  1362-70,  under  the  influence  of  Giovanni 
Balduccio  of  that  school;  the  latter,  having  been  called  to 
Milan  by  Azzo  Visconti,  had  there  carved  the  equally  famous 
shrine  of  St.  Peter  Martyr,  in  S.  Eustorgio,  many  of  whose 
statuettes  are  imitated  in  this  work.  It  is  entirely  of  white 
marble,  about  10  feet  in  length,  4  in  breadth  and  12  in  height ; 
and  consists  of  a  heavy  base  surmounted  by  an  equally  solid 
canopy,  upheld  by  four  short  pillars  on  each  of  the  long 
sides,  between  which  reclines  the  lifesize  effigy  of  the  saint,  in 


PAVIA  THE  PIOUS  255 

his  episcopal  robes  and  mitre ;  round  about  it  stand  six  quaint 
little  gowned  figures,  about  one  and  one-half  feet  high,  repre- 
senting deacons  of  the  Church,  who  are  holding  the  edges  of 
the  sheet  in  which  the  body  is  wound, —  and  four  others 
representing  the  Fathers  of  the  Church,  standing  in  couples 
at  the  head  and  feet.  Seen  through  the  small,  highly  ornate 
arches  connecting  the  pillars,  this  makes  a  charming  picture ; 
whose  embellishment  is  greatly  added  to  by  the  numerous 
statuettes  grouped  about  the  pillars,  seven  on  each  of  the  cor- 
ner supports  and  four  on  each  of  the  others, —  saints,  bishops 
and  martyrs, —  all  executed  with  a  grace  and  naturalness,  a 
realism  of  drapery,  and  a  varied  effectiveness  of  pose  and  ex- 
pression, truly  wonderful  for  their  period.  "  The  figures, 
which  are  very  Pisan  in  style,  have  their  surfaces  highly  pol- 
ished, the  borders  of  their  robes  carefully  elaborated,  and  the 
pupils  of  their  eyes  painted  black,  according  to  a  common 
custom  of  the  time."  7 

All  around  the  base  stand  larger  figures, —  the  twelve 
Apostles,  in  trefoil  gothic  niches,  six  per  side,  surrounded  by 
a  lavish  wealth  of  foliated  designs  covering  every  inch  of 
surface,  and  some  fourteen  female  virtues  and  martyrs,  placed 
at  the  ends  and  upon  pilasters  between  the  pairs  of  Apostles. 
The  canopy  is  still  more  elaborately  decorated:  each  side 
bears  six  separate  tableaux  in  high  relief,  the  upper  three  be- 
ing located  in  the  equilateral  triangles  of  the  crocketed  gables, 
with  more  statuettes  posed  between  them  and  at  the  angles; 
while  each  end  carries  three  scenes  similarly  disposed, —  two 
below  and  one  above.  The  lower  series  represent  the  chief 
events  of  the  life  of  the  saint,  including  the  institution  of  his 
order,  the  translation  of  his  body  from  Africa,  and  its  trans- 
ference to  this  church.  The  upper  series  display,  in  a  more 
confined    manner,    a  number  of  his   reported   miracles.     In 

7  Perkins'  "  Italian  Sculptors." 


256  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

none  of  the  tableaux  are  the  figures  so  natural  or  graceful 
as  are  the  statuettes,  but  they  are,  considering  their  epoch, 
remarkably  dramatic  and  full  of  force  and  purpose.  Most 
striking  and  beautiful  of  all,  perhaps,  is  the  effect  of  the 
monument  as  a  whole,  with  its  fine  proportions,  harmonious 
lines,  and  extraordinary  richness  of  ornamentation. 

As  I  gazed  upon  it,  my  thoughts  roved  over  the  remark- 
able history  of  the  saintly  dust  reposing  within  it,  both  before 
and  after  death.  It  once  formed  that  Father  of  the  Church 
of  whom  Tullock  well  said,  that  "  no  single  name  has  ever 
made  such  an  impression  upon  Christian  thought;"  for 
when,  "  in  the  death-agonies  of  the  Western  Empire,  the 
ashes  of  paganism  showed  flickering  life,  Augustine's  hand 
it  was  which  quenched  the  false  fire  finally. —  Luther  and 
Calvin  drew  largely  upon  his  writing;  Jansenius  preached 
Augustinianism  pur  et  simple;  and  if  we  take  away  from  the 
popular  theology  of  the  protestant  sects  what  it  has  gathered 
from  Augustine's  teaching,  little  will  remain. — Augustine 
occupies  a  unique  position  amongst  the  great  ecclesiastics. 
He  is  at  once  the  most  human  and  the  most  spiritual  of 
them  all ;  the  most  daring  of  offenders,  the  most  heart-stricken 
of  penitents."  8 

Who  does  not  know  his  life  of  startling  contrasts:  its 
youth  of  wildest  dissipation,  which  gave  such  sorrow  to  S. 
Monica,  his  mother,  and  was  so  frankly  set  forth  in  his 
"  Confessions  "  ;  his  conversion  and  baptism  by  St.  Ambrose 
at  Milan ;  his  appointment  to  the  bishopric  of  Hippo,  in 
Africa,  followed  by  so  many  years  of  glorious  deeds  for  the 
faith,  and  so  many  invaluable  treatises  upon  its  tenets.  But 
the  history  of  his  remains  was  even  more  adventurous:  first 
translated  to  the  church  of  S.  Saturnino  at  Cagliari,  Sar- 
dinia, 60  years  after  his  death,   on   account  of  the  Vandal 

8  W.  G.  Waters'  "  Five  Italian  Shrines." 


PAVIA  THE  PIOUS  257 

conquest  of  N.  Africa;  worshipped  there  for  two  centuries 
by  devout  pilgrims  from  every  land;  again  compelled  to 
flight  by  an  infidel  invasion,  this  time  of  the  Saracens,  and 
transferred  by  King  Luitprand  of  the  Lombards  to  Pavia, 
in  710;  deposited  then  in  the  earlier  church  of  the  Bene- 
dictines —  subsequently  of  the  Eremetani  —  upon  this  same 
spot,  where  they  were  placed  in  a  subterranean  vault  closed 
with  masonry,  whose  location  became  eventually  forgotten ; 
vainly  searched  for  in  the  14th  century,  when  the  Eremetani 
monks  had  erected  this  splendid  memorial  to  contain  them, 
—  after  exhausting  their  own  wealth  upon  it,  and  inducing 
the  magnificent  Gian  Galeazzo  to  complete  it,  by  donations 
and  by  a  legacy  in  his  will;  the  relics  finally  came  to  the 
light  of  modern  day  in  1695,  "when,  in  digging  in  the 
sacristy  of  S.  Pietro  in  Ciel  d'Oro,  the  workmen  came  upon 
a  marble  tomb,  which  bore  the  inscription  '  Augustinus,'  and 
contained  a  silver  casket  in  which  were  found  bones  and 
ashes."  9 

They  were  thus  united  with  the  shrine  built  to  hold  them ; 
but  in  a  few  years  commenced  a  further  wandering  by  going 
to  the  Duomo  of  that  time.  Returned  to  S.  Pietro,  then 
transferred  to  the  church  of  the  Jesu,  and  again  to  the 
Cathedral  about  1800,  when  the  Eremetani  were  suppressed 
and  S.  Pietro  dismantled, —  they  finally  came  to  rest  here 
in  1902,  upon  the  originally  destined  spot,  the  church  having 
been  restored  for  their  reception.  Behind  the  tomb  I  saw,  set 
in  the  floor,  a  piece  of  the  original  Roman  mosaic  pavement 
that  floored  the  cathedral  of  the  saint  at  Hippo.  King 
Luitprand  himself  is  buried  in  this  church,  through  his  ex- 
pressed desire  to  lie  beside  the  remains  of  the  great  Boethius, 
whose   memory   he    adored ; 10    but    the   place    of    the   joint 

9  W.  G.  Waters'  "  Five  Italian  Shrines." 

10 "  II   avait  voulu  par  son   testament  etre  enterre  aux  pieds  di 


258  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

sepulchre  is  unmarked,  and  forgotten, —  doubtless  due  to  the 
church's  dismantling  in  1800.  That  Boethius  was  laid  to 
rest  here  is  proved  by  the  lines  of  Dante,  in  "  Paradiso, 
canto  X,  124-129, — "  Lo  corpo  ond'ella  fu  cacciata  giace  — 
Giuso  in  Cieldauro,"  In  the  large  adjacent  monastery,  now 
used  as  a  barrack,  at  an  angle  of  one  of  the  cloisters,  rest  the 
remains  of  the  Dukes  of  Suffolk  and  Lorraine,  who  were 
slain  in  the  great  battle  of  1525. 

On  coming  out,  I  inspected  with  interest,  from  a  suitable 
view-point,  the  exterior  of  the  church's  Lombard  cupola, 
which  is  octagonal  and  completely  arcaded,  in  that  roman- 
esque  style  which  was  the  prototype  of  the  Lombard-renais- 
sance; also  the  picturesque  exterior  of  the  choir,  with  its 
typical  Lombard  pilasters  and  colonnades ;  —  both  of  these 
features  remaining  from  the  edifice  of  the  1 2th  century'. 
Then  returning  to  the  A  Ilea,  and  crossing  it,  I  struck  off 
down  a  broad  street  called  the  Piazza  Petrarca,  parallel 
with  the  Corso;  whifh  after  some  300  yards  brought  me  to 
the  huge,  brick  structure  of  S.  Maria  del  Carmine,  two 
blocks  west  of  the  University.  This  was  an  imposing  gothic 
building  of  the  late  trecento,  which  even  the  critical  Street 
admitted  to  be  "  a  masterpiece  of  terracotta  and  brick  archi- 
tecture,—  more  akin  to  our  own  pointed  work  than  any 
other  church  "  u  he  had  seen  in  Italy.  The  facade,  of  Lom- 
bard pyramidal  shape,  was  adorned  by  three  pointed  door- 

Boece,  afin,  disait-il,  qu'en  cessant  de  vivre,  il  ne  parut  point  cesser 
de  lui  raanquer  son  respect." — Valery.  His  fine  tomb,  which  Valery 
described,  has  entirely  disappeared  during  the  changes  of  the  ages. 
— It  is  to  this  greatest  of  the  Lombard  monarchs  that  the  name  of 
the  church  is  due:  for,  after  restoring  the  then  edifice  from  basement 
to  roof,  he  caused  the  latter  to  be  gorgeously  embellished  with  a 
"  golden  frieze." 

11  Street's  "  Brick  and  Marble  Architecture  in  the  Middle  Ages," 
Chap.  X. 


PAVIA  THE  PIOUS  259 

ways, —  the  central  containing  a  fair  cotta  relief  of  the 
Annunciation, — ■  a  large  and  very  handsome  rose  window, 
enriched  by  cotta  mouldings  and  other  decorations,  two 
single-  and  four  double-arched  gothic  windows  in  charming 
cotta  frames,  and  a  cornice  of  the  same  material  topped  by 
pinnacles.  The  lofty  sides  and  choir  were  also  impressively 
pierced  by  excellent,  large,  recessed  windows;  and  upon  the 
south  side  rose  the  enormous  campanile,  to  a  fine  belfry  of 
triple-pointed  arches,  and  a  spire  capped  with  a  columned 
lantern.  The  colour  effect  of  these  unusually  red  bricks  and 
the  glistening  terracotta,  joined  with  the  massive  dignity  of 
the  edifice  and  the  grace  of  its  adornments,  renders  it  thor- 
oughly delightful. 

Its  interior,  which  I  visited  upon  a  later  day,  proved 
equally  enchanting, —  so  much  so,  in  fact,  that  it  lingers  in 
my  memory  as  one  of  the  most  interesting  gothic  churches  of 
the  plain.  Its  individuality  was  very  pronounced.  The 
pointed  groined  nave  of  spacious  dimensions,  the  numerous 
heavy,  gothic  piers,  connected  by  narrow,  pointed  arches,  the 
considerably  lower  aisles,  similarly  vaulted  and  flanked  by 
a  succession  of  deep,  narrow  chapels,  the  longer  transepts, 
and  square  choir,  of  equal  height  and  breadth  with  the  nave, — 
were  all  constructed  of  the  same  red  brick,  but  in  lines  and 
masses  so  effective  that  for  once  at  least  they  were  fully  as 
impressive  as  any  stone.  This  effect  was  heightened  by  the 
omnipresent  gloom  which  shrouded  the  ponderous  pillars, 
deepened  to  obscurity  the  chapels,  and  was  traversed  by 
glints  of  oriental  hues  from  the  smoky,  stained  windows. 
No  dome  lent  its  lightening  influence.  And  the  prevailing 
sense  of  vast,  unaltering  age  was  complemented  by  the  an- 
cient pavement  of  worn,  red  tiles.  The  Italian-gothic  plan, 
which  reminded  me  strongly  of  S.  Anastasia  at  Verona,  was 
filled  out  by  four  more  narrow,  deep  chapels,  in  the  transept, 


26o  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

—  two  upon  each  side  of  the  choir ;  and  there  were  various 
interesting  appurtenances  of  that  style,  including  a  carved 
wooden  puipit  upon  the  right-hand  middle  pier,  a  gothic 
wooden  ancona,  highly  carved  and  regilded,  in  the  last  chapel 
of  that  side,  and  a  curious  but  elegant  baptismal  canopy, 
richly  sculptured  in  terracotta  with  many  reliefs  and  statu- 
ettes, in  the  first  chapel  upon  the  left.  Only  two  renaissance 
works  worthy  of  notice  were  to  be  seen :  an  early  cinquecento 
painting  of  the  Madonna  between  two  saints,  effectively 
posed  and  coloured,  placed  over  a  little  altar  against  the 
entrance-wall,  and  illumined  by  encircling  candles;  and  a 
Swooning  of  the  Madonna  by  the  Leonardesque  school,  with 
a  number  of  enchanting  artgels,  in  the  fourth  chapel  on  the 
left.12 

Upon  the  eastern  side  of  Piazza  Petrarca,  and  a  few  paces 
farther  north,  stands  the  plain  Palazzo  Malaspina,  a  digni- 
fied, fair-sized  edifice  whose  restorations  have  prevented  any 
show  of  its  great  age;  but  as  long  ago  as  the  14th  century 
it  was  the  seat  of  the  noble  family  of  that  name,  and  only 
in  recent  times  has  left  their  possession,  to  become  the 
quarters  of  the  city's  artistic  collections, —  Pavia's  Museo 
Civico.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  said  century,  the  then 
Marchese  Malaspina  had  an  estimable  factor  named  Fran- 
cesco da  Brossano,  who  occupied  a  dwelling  adjacent  to  the 
palace  upon  the  east.  There  he  lived  with  his  wife,  the 
daughter  of  Petrarch;  and  Petrarch  himself  often  stayed 
with  them  for  long  visits,  preferring  the  company  of  his 
dearly  beloved  child,  and  that  of  his  little  grandson,  to  the 
royal  luxury  of  the  Castello.  The  house  has  now  disap- 
peared; but,  on  traversing  a  lane  called  Vicolo  S.  Zeno  to 

12  In  this  church  lies  buried  one  of  humanity's  great  benefactors, — 
the  monk  Bernardino  da  Feltre,  who  originated  here  at  Pavia  in  1493 
the  institution  of  the  Monte  di  Pietd. 


PAVIA  THE  PIOUS  261 

the  back  part  of  the  palace,  I  came  to  a  little  memorial 
indicating  its  site, —  a  bust  of  Petrarch,  with  a  long  inscrip- 
tion, upon  the  outer  wall  of  a  rear  courtyard.  The  in- 
scription included  the  simple  but  touching  Latin  epitaph 
which  was  composed  by  the  sorrowing  poet  when  his  adored 
grandson  died. 

Upon  the  other  side  of  the  gateway  in  this  wall,  I  saw 
another  bust  and  epigraph,  to  the  martyred  Boethius;  for 
this  was  the  spot,  according  to  the  unchanging  tradition, 
upon  which  stood  his  prison-tower.  The  subscription,  by  the 
Abbe  Morcelli,  reminded  me  that  this  was  holy  ground,  which 
had  witnessed  such  undeserved  sufferings,  and  seen  them  pour 
forth  the  pious  wisdom  of  the  "  De  Consolatione  Philoso- 
phiae." 

Besides  the  Museo,  which,  according  to  my  wont,  I  left 
for  inspection  at  the  end  of  my  visit,  there  was  one  more 
place  of  interest  in  this  quarter  of  the  city, —  the  northwestern 
ramparts,  reached  at  the  end  of  the  Allea  di  Piazza  Castello. 
I  found  a  pleasure  in  pacing  their  lofty  promenade  toward 
sunset,  under  the  shade  of  their  arching  foliage,  amid  a  silence 
broken  only  by  an  occasional  passer-by ;  while  the  golden 
radiance  of  the  western  sky  illumined  the  far-spread  plain 
with  a  sheen  of  glory  which  seemed  to  revivify  its  dramatic 
scenes  of  the  tremendous  past,  throwing  a  glistening  mantle 
over  the  railroad  yards  and  factories  of  the  modern  suburb, 
from  which  resounded  the  flashing  arms  of  the  countless  hosts 
of  bygone  assailants, —  from  Alboin  with  his  Lombards  to 
Francis  with  his  doomed  array.13 

One  day  I   devoted  to  the  remaining  objects  of  interest 

13  These  ponderous  bastions  remain  from  the  enceinture  of  1547, 
built  by  Fr.  Gonzales  as  governor  for  Charles  V. —  In  the  preceding 
centuries,  of  Pavia  as  a  stronghold,  there  were  three  complete  cir- 
cuits of  walls,  one  within  another. 


262  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

in  the  northeastern  quarter.  Following  the  narrow  street 
running  eastward  from  the  Corso  along  the  northern  side  of 
the  University,  it  terminated  after  four  blocks  in  a  small 
piazza  fronted  by  the  large  church  of  the  Franciscans,  looking 
westward.  Its  long,  low,  dark  interior,  with  huge  stuccoed 
columns,  was  entirely  renovated  and  of  no  special  merit; 
but  the  early  fagade  was  most  exceptional,  its  body  being 
of  stucco  painted  a  tessellated  red  and  white  design,  with 
red  brick  buttresses  tipped  by  quaint  gothic  pinnacles;  the 
four  little  second-story  windows,  grouped  together  in  the 
centre,  were  recessed  with  red  and  white  mouldings;  and 
the  single  large  upper  window  was  a  beautiful  gothic  work, 
with  three  pointed  arches  divided  by  marble  mullions,  and 
enclosed  in  a  frame  of  delicately  wrought  terracotta.  This 
front  was  a  production  of  the  13th  century,  recently  restored 
without  variation. 

One  block  behind  it  there  opened  a  square  almost  as  ex- 
tensive as  the  Piazza  Grande,  holding  in  its  centre  a  heroic 
bronze  statue  of  Pope  Pius  V,  bearded,  and  draped  in  a 
Berniniesque  manner.  His  hand  is  extended  in  blessing  to- 
ward a  large  palace  upon  his  right,  the  Collegio  Ghislieri, 
which  he  founded  in  1569.  This  seminarial  attachment  of 
the  University,  looking  northward  from  the  square's  south- 
eastern angle,  has  a  plain  stuccoed  fagade,  with  a  stately 
renaissance  portal  framed  by  columns.  Two  blocks  directly 
south  of  San  Francesco  I  found  the  curious  little  church  of 
S.  Maria  di  Canepanova,  designed  by  Bramante.  Its  facade, 
with  the  master's  usual  indifference,  consisted  only  of  rough 
brickwork ;  but  the  interior  was  in  his  customary  classic  form 
of  a  domed  octagon,  adorned  by  an  arcaded  gallery  in  the 
second  story,  consisting  of  double  arches  on  each  side, 
separated  by  corinthian  half-columns.  The  dome  was 
prettily  proportioned  and  designed,  and  recently  painted  in 


PAVIA  THE  PIOUS  263 

a  bluish  grey  ground  with  regular  devices.  Upon  the 
right  and  left  were  shallow  recesses  devoted  to  altars;  the 
choir  and  entrance  occupied  deeper  archways;  and  each 
corner  was  adorned  with  a  couple  of  mediocre  paintings. 
The  building's  grace  and  smallness  combined  to  give  it  a  sort 
of  cameo-like  charm.  Here  I  was  amused  and  repelled  by  an 
assistant  sacristan  to  whom  the  palm  for  idiocy  must  cer- 
tainly be  awarded.  His  unremitting  attentions,  composed 
of  chucklings,  snortings,  gurglings,  shakings,  and  a  meaning- 
less jargon  of  his  own,  prevented  any  proper  appreciation  of 
the  building. 

A  block  to  the  east  of  this  rises  the  large  Palazzo  Munic- 
ipale,  on  the  northern  side  of  the  piazza  terminating  Via 
Mazzini.  When  I  have  said,  after  due  reflection,  that  it  is 
the  most  extremely  rococo  structure  I  ever  saw,  I  can  give 
no  stronger  idea  of  its  horrible  barbarities  of  mass  and  detail. 
It  is  of  course  of  stucco,  painted  in  imitation  of  stone  around 
the  doorways  and  windows,  with  two  real  stone  columns 
framing  each  portal ;  the  window-cornices  and  balconies  are 
masses  of  flying,  twisted,  involved  lines,  no  line  nor  curve 
being  held  for  a  foot's  distance.  It  is  ugly  to  the  point  of 
interest.  But  it  is  spacious,  and  affords  the  admiring  Pavesi 
plenty  of  room  for  their  city  government.  On  one  side  the 
piazza  was  now  being  enlarged  by  the  demolishing  of  some 
very  old  building,  to  make  space  for  lawns  and  flowerbeds. — 
Several  blocks  to  the  northeast  here,  against  the  city  wall  on 
this  side,  lie  the  botanical  gardens  attached  to  the  University, 
already  mentioned.  And  several  blocks  to  the  south,  seen 
over  the  housetops  from  the  elevated  ground  on  which  the 
Municipio  is  perched,  rise  the  two  or  three  surviving  mediae- 
val house-towers,  of  the  celebrated  hundred  which  gave  their 
name  formerly  to  the  town.  Their  dark,  quadrangular, 
brick  walls  soar  with  hardly  an  opening  far  into  the  blue  sky, 


264  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

to  broken,  crumbling  summits,  deprived  of  the  battlements 
from  which  the  mediaevals  waged  their  fratricidal  city  strife.1* 

Their  attached  dwellings,  remnants  of  noble  houses, —  as 
I  found  later  on  walking  to  their  feet, —  are  likewise  crum- 
bling, dingy,  and  more  or  less  abandoned.  Many  of  these 
dusky  side-streets  are  lined  throughout  by  ancient  buildings 
of  this  character,  still,  as  in  Lady  Morgan's  time,  "  sad, 
desolate  and  silent;  some  terminate  in  piazzas,  opening  before 
vast  and  cumbrous  palaces,  with  windows  half-sashed,  doors 
hanging  from  their  hinges,  balconies  mouldering  over  beauti- 
ful but  fallen  porticoes,  and  the  grass  shooting  up  everywhere 
between  the  pavements." 

In  this  same  southeastern  quarter  there  remained  to  be  in- 
spected that  famous  edifice,  at  once  the  most  ancient  and  most 
perfect  of  all  Lombard  buildings,  which,  according  to  Lord 
Lindsay,  "  existed  as  a  sanctuary  as  early  as  66 1, —  the  church 
of  S.  Michele  Maggiore, —  when  Unulfus  took  sanctuary 
in  it  to  escape  the  vengeance  of  King  Grimoaldus " ; 15 
though  the  present  structure  is  of  the  ioth  century.  It  is 
located  a  couple  of  blocks  east  of  the  main  thoroughfare,  and 
one  block  south  of  Corso  Garibaldi,  facing  westward  upon  a 
small  piazza  of  the  same  name.  On  starting  out  one  morn- 
ing to  visit  it,  however,  I  first  stopped  for  a  few  minutes  to 
examine  the  so-called  Mercato  Coperto,  or  covered  market, 
which  adjoins  the  hotel  upon  the  south,  extending  through 
from  Corso  Vittorio  Emanuele  to  the  sequestered  little  Piazza 
del  Popolo.  It  was  a  typically  handsome,  modern,  Italian 
arcade,  glass-roofed,  with  a  central,  domed  rotunda  of  four 
stories;  its  stucco  fagade  was  in  quiet  renaissance  lines,  its 

14  From  noo  to  1300  was  the  chief  era  of  tower-building, —  which 
was  done  really  more  for  show  than  for  use;  they  reached,  says  Bre- 
ventano,  to  the  number  of  160. 

15  Lord  Lindsay's  "  Christian  Art,"  Vol.  I. 


PAVIA  THE  PIOUS  265 

hall  decorated  with  many  fine  granite  columns,  upon  the  walls 
and  about  the  doorways ;  and  the  stately  rotunda  was  beauti- 
fied by  an  upper  gallery,  surmounted  by  a  circle  of  three- 
quarter  columns.  Here  the  central  post-office  was  located. 
Occupying  the  little  rear  piazza,  and  framed  in  the  long 
vista  of  the  arcade,  I  found  Pavia's  monument  to  the  heroic 
Cairoli. 

This  was  a  splendid  masterpiece  of  modern  Italian  sculp- 
ture (1900),  and  the  artist,  Enrico  Cassi,  had  fully  taken 
advantage  of  his  inspiring  subject,  to  produce  a  group  teeming 
with  pathos  and  lofty  patriotism.  Upon  a  heavy  granite 
pedestal,  and  before  an  obelisk  of  the  same  stone  rising  from 
its  back,  stood  that  wonderful  woman,  Adelaide,  daughter  of 
Count  and  Minister  Benedetto  Bono,  and  mother  of  the 
Cairoli,  bestowing  a  battleflag  upon  her  five  departing  sons, 
— four  of  them  leaving  her  forever,  to  give  their  lives  for 
Italy.  The  lifesize  bronze  figures  were  thrilling  in  their 
realism  of  form  and  garb,  and  in  the  patriotic  self-devotion 
that  radiated  from  every  line  of  the  eager  faces  and  every 
gesture  of  the  youthful  limbs.  In  deeper  dramatic  contrast 
stood  the  bereaved  widow,  in  her  severe  mourning  dress,  as 
straight  as  any  warrior,  the  fine  eyes  of  her  noble  countenance 
plainly  glowing  with  fervour  and  pride,  while  yet  the  lines 
of  the  cheeks  betrayed  the  heart-rending  emotions  of  the  for- 
saken mother.  Well  indeed  could  she  say, — "  More  I  give 
to  my  country  than  my  own  heart's  blood :  I  give  that  of  my 
children !  "  And  well  say  the  Italians,  that  she  died  four 
times,  to  free  her  fatherland.  Another  monument  records 
her  bravery  and  sacrifice  at  Groppello,  where  she  resided. 
And  all  travellers  must  remember  that  touching  memorial 
in  the  Pincian  gardens  of  Rome,  showing  two  young  soldiers 
making  their  last  stand,  one  of  them  stretched  upon  the 
ground;  those  were  two  of  the  brothers,  who  perished  in 


266  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

Garibaldi's  attacks  upon  the  Eternal  City.  Of  the  others, 
one  fell  at  Varese,  and  the  fourth  in  Sicily,  during  that 
memorable  expedition,  which  Adelaide  had  assisted  in  send- 
ing off  from  Genoa.  The  fifth,  Benedetto,  though  wounded 
at  Catalafimi  in  the  ranks  of  the  Thousand,  lived  to  serve 
United  Italy  as  one  of  her  greatest  statesmen,  and  to  save 
King  Humbert's  life,  in  '78,  when  attacked  by  Passanante. — 
Now  Adelaide  and  her  five  sons  sleep  together,  in  a  chapel 
that  has  been  made  a  national  monument. 

"  In  the  name  of  Italy, 
Meantime  her  patriot  dead  have  benison. 
They  only   have   done   well ;    and   what   they   did, 
Being  perfect,  it  shall  triumph. 
Let  them  slumber."  16 

Taking  my  way  out  the  Corso  Garibaldi,  whose  straight- 
ness  and  larger  width  make  it  comparatively  imposing,  and 
turning  to  the  right,  I  soon  arrived  before  the  10th  century 
temple  of  the  Lombards,  which  at  once  held  me  in  delighted 
wonder.  It  was  far  from  beautiful,  in  its  stern  dark  walls 
and  irregular  lines,  whose  evenly  fitted  marble  blocks  had 
been  turned  by  the  ages  to  the  colour  of  clay;  but  the  lofty 
massiveness  of  the  grim  fagade,  lightened  hardly  at  all  by  the 
little  windows,  impressed  me  with  a  sense  of  power  and 
majesty;  to  which  were  added  strange  feelings  of  savage 
wildness  and  ferocity,  by  the  extensive  bands  of  weird  and 
uncouth  carvings  that  stretched  from  angle  to  angle,  in 
contrast  to  the  skilfulness  of  the  masonry,  which  the  builders 
had  learned  from  the  Roman  structures.  It  was  indeed 
a  thesaurus  of  the  artistic  accomplishments, —  an  exponent 
of  the  semicivilised  traits  and  practices, —  of  that  strange  race 
of  vanished  conquerors. 

16  Mrs.   Browning's  "  Casa   Guidi  Windows." 


THE    MONUMENT   OF   GIAN    GALEAZZO    VISCONTI. 
THE   CERTOSA    DI    PAVIA 


PAVIA  THE  PIOUS  267 

The  pyramidal  front  was  taller  than  usual  at  the  shoul- 
ders, and  its  broad  gable  was  remarkably  flat ;  beneath  it  ran 
an  arcaded  sloping  cornice  of  extraordinary  dimensions,  deeply 
recessed  in  the  heavy  wall,  with  its  round  arches  supported  by 
slender  marble  shafts,  whose  crude  capitals  were  surmounted 
by  distorted  beasts,  and  whose  bases  rested  upon  successive 
steps.  Four  imitation-buttresses  (two  of  them  at  the  build- 
ing's corners)  divided  the  facade  into  three  unequal  com- 
partments, the  central  being"  wider;  they  were  formed  like 
clustered  columns,  of  even  size  to  the  top;  or  rather,  each 
was  composed  of  a  half-column  flanked  by  three  receding 
mouldings  on  each  side,  alternately  round  and  square;  the 
two  middle  buttresses  being  cut  to  a  third  and  a  half  their 
height  with  vertical,  spiral  and  circular  grooves,  while  the 
outer  ones  seemed  still  more  unfinished,  with  unevenly  spaced 
patches  of  zigzags.  A  fine  rounded  portal  opened  in  each 
of  these  compartments,  the  middle  one  considerably  taller; 
each  was  recessed  five-fold,  and  sculptured  all  over  its  mould- 
ings and  outer  face  with  a  wonderful  display  of  Lombard 
reliefs,  infinitely  varied, —  oriental-looking  devices,  grotesque 
human  figures,  and  beasts  real  and  fanciful,  interwoven 
with  great  fertility  and  ingenuity.  In  each  of  the  lunettes 
stood  a  solitary  figure  in  high  relief,  with  a  saintly  halo,  and 
upon  the  summit  of  the  arch,  another  and  larger  statue. 

Over  the  main  portal  opened  three  tiers  of  small  windows, 
grouped  closely  in  the  centre  of  the  facade,  three  openings  in 
each  tier ;  the  lowest  consisted  of  double-arches,  once  recessed, 
divided  by  slender  octagonal  shafts  of  marble;  the  next,  of 
larger,  single  arches,  very  deeply  recessed ;  and  the  topmost, 
of  a  Greek  cross  flanked  by  recessed  circles.  Over  each  of 
the  side  portals  opened  but  a  solitary  aperture,  level  with  and 
similar  to  the  lowest  row  in  the  middle.  These  few  windows, 
not  ungraceful  in  themselves,  served  to  emphasise  the  stern 


268  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

ponderosity  of  the  whole  front.  Between  those  of  the  lowest 
tier,  and  equidistant  below,  as  far  down  as  the  mid-height  of 
the  doorways,  extended  the  successive  bands  of  uncouth  re- 
liefs, which  constituted  the  main  ornamentation  and  interest 
of  the  construction. 

In  these  unparalleled  carvings  are  set  forth  the  full  story 
of  Lombard  beliefs  and  dark  superstitions,  their  active  out- 
door life  of  hunting  and  warfare,  their  ignorance  and  mental 
limitations,  their  cruelty  and  savage  practices.  The  deso- 
late and  wooded  wilderness  to  which  the  Lombardy  of  their 
time  had  retroceded,  is  also  fairly  indicated.  The  archaic 
human  figures,  chain-clad  or  garbed  in  loose,  rough  clothes 
with  steeple-hats,  like  those  on  the  doors  of  S.  Zeno  at 
Verona,  are  engaged  upon  horseback  in  the  chase  or  in  com- 
bat,—  are  riding  and  playing  with  beasts  of  every  description, 
returning  from  expeditions  with  carcasses,  strings  of  fish,  or 
spoliations,  and  employed  in  shoeing  horses,  making  arms, 
and  other  occupations  attendant  upon  such  an  outdoor  life. 
Inter-connected  throughout  are  the  full  category  of  weird 
creatures  that  peopled  their  barbaric  imaginations, — "  drag- 
ons, griffins,  eagles,  snakes,  sphynxes,  centaurs  —  the  whole 
mythological  menagerie  which  our  ancestors  brought  with 
them  from  their  native  Iran, —  interspersed  with  warriors, 
minstrels,  and  even  tumblers;  in  short,  the  strong  impress 
everywhere  meets  you  of  a  wild  and  bold  equestrian  nation, 
glorying  in  war,  delighting  in  horses  and  the  chase,  falconry, 
music  and  gymnastics, —  credulous,  too,  of  old  wives'  stories, 
and  tenacious  of  —  the  marvellous  and  the  strange." 17 
Here  we  see  indisputably  how  "  the  Longobardi  seem  to  have 
been  stamped  with  nature's  own  mark  of  physiological  su- 
periority. They  brought  with  them  —  a  fierce  but  generous 
courage,  and  a  powerful   and   dominant  instinct  of  liberty, 

17  Lord  Lindsay's  "  Christian  Art." 


PAVIA  THE  PIOUS  269 

which  has  been  found  working  at  intervals  through  all  the 
successive  stages  of  Italy's  woeful  existence.  It  was  that 
spirit  which  so  early  resisted  the  prescriptions  of  feudality, 
and  gave  the  first  shock  to  foreign  influence  under  the  Ger- 
man emperors.  It  was  that  spirit  which  enfranchised  north- 
ern Italy,  founded  her  glorious  republics,  and  cemented  that 
holy  alliance  of  free  citizens,  the  League  of  Lombardy!  "  18 

In  the  southern  wall  of  the  edifice  there  opened  a  doorway 
even  more  remarkable  than  those  in  front,  recessed  seven-fold, 
and  likewise  profusely  sculptured, —  in  fact,  the  most  ornate 
Lombard-romanesque  portal  that  I  had  ever  seen.  From  the 
street  upon  this  side  the  characteristic  cupola  was  visible, 
above  the  crossing,  its  octagonal  drum  surrounded  as  usual, 
by  airy  colonnades.  Entering  by  the  front,  I  found  that 
"  the  interior  of  this  temple  is  equally  gloomy,  and  almost 
as  barbarous  as  the  exterior." — "  The  dark,  dank  entrance, 
or  portico,  is  painted  in  fresco,  in  forms  so  terrible  as  to  add 
to  its  awful  gloom.  Here  are  the  large,  grinning,  staring 
figures  of  doctors,  saints,  and  Madonnas,  which  were  well 
fitted  to  be  the  idols  of  the  dark,  unsettled  faith  of  the  times, 
in  which  not  one  ray  of  the  light  of  Christianity  seems  to 
have  penetrated,  though  every  crime  was  sacrilegiously  com- 
mitted in  its  hallowed  name. —  The  frescoes  are  by  Andrino 
d'Edesia,  a  contemporary  of  Giotto. —  There  is  one  spot  curi- 
ously paved  with  ancient  mosaic,  where,  it  is  said,  the  Lom- 
bard kings  were  crowned."  18a 

I  saw  a  broad,  high-vaulted  nave,  sustained  on  each  side  by 
four  heavy  piers,  faced  with  half-columns,  which  were  tipped 
with  Lombard  capitals  of  unsurpassable  grotesqueness, —  their 
forms  of  unspeakable,  mouthing  beasts  being  involved  with 
deformed,   grinning  "  figures, —  differing  so  much  from  the 

18  Lady  Morgan's  "  Italy." 
18a  Idem. 


270  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

human  figure  as  to  appear  belonging  to  another  species."  19 
Above  the  broad,  rounded  side-arches  extended  another  series, 
of  equal  width,   forming  a  triforium   gallery,  without  any 
clerestory.     Curious  premonitions  of  the  gothic  occurred  in 
the  diagonal  groining  of  the  roof,  and  the  subdivided  bays 
of  the  low  aisles;  those  upon  the  right  side  being  incongru- 
ously  frescoed   with   ctnquecento   designs  and   panelled   tab- 
leaux.    The  side-chapels  occupied  shallow  recesses,  separated 
by  relieved  columns  bearing  more  of  the  demoniac  capitals. 
The  dim  light  entered  through  the  picturesque  stained  glass 
of   the   front  windows,   the  little  circular  windows  of   the 
chapels,  the  octagonal  arcade  below  the  dome,  and  a  solitary, 
small  rose  window  of  blue  glass  which  cast  an   unearthly 
effulgence  from  the  deep  apse  of  the  elevated  choir.     The 
latter  was  approached  by  central  steps,  flanked  by  side  steps 
descending  to  the  crypt;  the  wide  transept  was  vaulted  in 
romanesque   fashion,   with   the   supporting   arches   springing 
from  lofty  half-columns  against  the  walls.     In  these  "  main 
arches  we  have  the  work  of  an  age,  of  which  in  northern 
countries  we  have  nothing  but  a  few  uncertain  fragments."  20 
The  first  chapel  to  right  contained  a  pleasing  surprise, —  a 
beautiful  painting  of  the  Madonna  and  S.  Siro,  by  Massacra 
of  Pavia,  simple  in  form  but  lovely  under  close  inspection. 
The  end  recess  of  the  right  transept  held  a  handsome  little 
gilded  reredos  of  the  cinquecento,  and  its  chapel  beside  the 
choir  was  adorned  with  a  wooden  crucifix  as  old  as  the  9th 
or  10th  century.     Opposite  this  chapel,  high  upon  the  wall, 
hung  another  charming  canvas  of  the  Madonna  and  saints,  by 
an   unknown   Renaissance  hand.     Facing  the  crypt  were  a 
number  of  Lombard  columns  from  the  earlier  church,  of  the 
6th  or  7th  century;  and  the  rows  of  columns  within  it  are 

19  Lanzi's  "  History  of  Art,"  Vol.  II. 

20  Freeman's  "  Historical   and   Architectural  Sketches." 


PAVIA  THE  PIOUS  271 

said  to  date  mostly  from  the  same  period, —  as  well  as  the 
two  entrance  archways, —  being  entirely  covered,  upon  shafts, 
capitals,  frieze  and  arches,  with  reliefs  of  the  most  original 
and  amusing  character.  Upon  its  left  wall  I  observed  a 
handsome  cinquecento  statuette  of  the  Madonna  and  Child; 
and  upon  an  adjacent  capital,  several  carved  beasts  that 
were  perfectly  Assyrian  in  design, —  a  fact  noted  several 
times  elsewhere,  and  which  may  be  taken  to  indicate  the  near 
Asiatic  descent  of  the  Lombards.  Against  its  front  wall 
stood  the  exquisite  tomb  of  Martino  Salimbene,  executed  by 
Amadeo  in  1491 ;  whose  chief  feature  was  a  lovely  relief  of 
the  Madonna  with  an  adoring  monk. 

The  left  transept  contained  some  very  fine  Lombard  carv- 
ings, including  a  pair  of  beautiful  windows  recessed  from 
within,  and  an  elaborately  adorned  recess  holding  a  modern 
baptismal  font  in  imitation  of  the  same  style.  At  the  front 
of  the  high  choir  I  found  imbedded  in  its  pavement  the  inter- 
esting fragments  of  the  mosaic  flooring,  transferred  from  the 
earlier  edifice,  with  crude  designs  of  animals  in  black  and 
white  and  red  —  showing  their  following  of  the  Roman  art, 
—  upon  which  the  royal  Lombard  coronations  once  took 
place.21  This  was  indeed  a  close  touch  with  those  far-off 
barbaric  times.  And  coming  slightly  nearer, —  upon  this 
same  spot  the  Emperor  Frederick  Barbarossa,  on  Easter  day, 
1 155,  received  upon  his  brow  the  Iron  Crown  of  Lombardy: 
"  assembling  round  him  all  the  rulers  of  Lombardy,  the 
bishops  and  nobles  of  Italy, —  after  the  elevation  of  the  mass 

21  After  the  long  succession  of  Lombard  kings,  Charlemagne  him- 
self received  the  Iron  Crown  upon  this  circle  of  mosaic  pavement; 
and,  during  the  succeeding  300  years,  a  number  of  strange  and  half- 
forgotten  rulers, —  such  as  Berengarius  of  Friuli  in  888,  Arduino  of 
Ivrea  in  1002,  and  Arrigo  II  of  Germany  in  1004.  Some  of  them 
indeed  might  be  called  mere  adventurers,  who  thought  that  the 
touch  of  the  revered  circlet  would  sanctify  their  aspirations. 


272  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

he  was  crowned,  with  Beatrice  Augusta,  with  the  crown 
which  3  years  before  he  had  refused,  swearing  that  it  should 
not  be  placed  on  his  head  until  he  had  taken  the  city  of 
Milan."  22  What  a  spectacle  must  that  have  been,  in  all 
the  armed  and  multi-coloured  pomp  of  the  savage  Middle 
Age!  It  seemed  incredible  that  these  very  stones  had  wit- 
nessed it. 

In  the  half-dome  of  the  apse,  finally,  glowed  a  splendidly 
preserved  fresco  of  the  trecento,  representing  Christ  crowning 
the  Madonna,  amidst  a  choir  of  truly  charming  angels. 
This  extraordinary  relic  is  the  surviving  masterpiece  of  that 
same  Andrino  d'Edesia;  who  also  painted,  with  his  scholars, 
the  figures  that  have  left  but  faint  traces  of  their  quondam 
glory  upon  the  piers  of  the  nave.  He  "  flourished  at  the 
period  of  Petrarch  and  Giotto  —  and  is  said  to  belong  to 
Pavia;  though  his  name  —  leads  us  to  conjecture  that  it  must 
have  been  of  Greek  origin."  23 

In  this  earliest  of  remaining  Lombard  churches,  which  had 
been  rebuilt  on  its  original  plan  of  the  6th  century,  I  beheld 
most  clearly  the  changes  which  the  race  had  made  in  the  first 
ecclesiastical  architecture  of  the  Christians.  That  had  been, 
very  naturally,  naught  but  an  adaptation  of  the  Roman  basil- 
ica,—  as  we  still  see  in  the  earliest  churches  at  Rome,  or  in 
S.  Ambrogio  at  Milan.  Here  I  saw  the  full  revolution  ac- 
complished by  the  Lombards:  the  abolition  of  the  temple 
fore-court ;  the  narthex,  or  ancient  portico,  at  first  swept  away 
entirely,  as  here,  and  later  resumed  only  as  an  ornate  porch 
above  the  entrance;  the  adoption  of  the  aspiring,  gabled  fa- 
cade, sometimes  with  triple  pediments,  corresponding  to  the 
three  portals  and  indicating  the  Trinity;  its  novel  decorations, 
consisting  of  the  colonnaded  galleries  and  belts  of  sculptured 

22  E.  Seeley's  "  Artists  of  the  Renaissance." 

23  Lanzi's  "  History  of  Art,"  Vol.  I. 


PAVIA  THE  PIOUS  273 

reliefs,  often  continued  along  the  sides  and  apse, —  and  some- 
times the  covering  of  the  whole  front  with  colonnades,  tier 
upon  tier,  as  in  the  celebrated  S.  Maria  della  Pieve  of 
Arezzo;  the  alteration  of  the  basilica-form  to  a  Latin  cross, 
the  symbol  of  the  faith ;  the  substitution  for  timbers  of  a 
stone-vaulted  roof,  whose  weight  was  sustained  by  clustering 
the  columns  into  massive  piers ;  the  adoption  of  arcaded  tri- 
forium-galleries  along  the  loftier  nave, —  originally  conceived 
in  the  East  for  the  isolation  of  the  women ;  the  raising  of  the 
tribune,  the  ancient  cella,  and  its  termination  by  an  abis 
oriently  directed,  so  as  to  afford  a  loftier  and  longer  crypt, 
which  was  still  adorned  with  rows  of  columns;  the  lighting 
of  this  greater  edifice  by  windows  in  the  apse  and  clerestory ; 
and  the  capping  of  it  by  a  majestic  octagonal  dome,  decorated 
within  and  without  by  airy  colonnades.  The  main  parts  of 
this  new  design  the  Lombards  brought  with  them  from  the 
territory  of  Byzantium ;  the  amplifications,  natural  and  grad- 
ual, they  developed  here  in  Italy;  and  we  do  not  often  enough 
stop  to  remember  this  great  debt  that  we  owe  them  for  the 
beautiful  and  significant  forms  of  our  church  architecture. 
We  owe  to  them  also  the  bell-tower,  or  steeple,  which  they 
developed  at  first  as  a  separate  but  adjacent  structure ;  im- 
porting into  Italy  from  the  Orient  the  use  of  bells,  some  time 
during  the  8th  century. 

This  neighbourhood  was  the  centre  of  importance  in  Lom- 
bard days;  the  royal  palace,  which  Theodoric  first  raised  and 
occupied,  lay  immediately  south  of  S.  Michele,  upon  the 
bank  of  the  Ticino ;  and  the  street  next  upon  the  west,  lead- 
ing riverward,  still  bears  the  name  accordingly  given  it  at 
that  epoch, — "  Via  della  Rocchetta,"  or  Street  of  the  Castle. 
This  would  suffice  to  mark  the  spot  alone ;  but  on  proceeding 
directly  south  from  the  Piazza  of  S.  Michele,  and  through  a 
tunnel-like  archway,  I  reached  in  a  few  paces  the  remains  of 


274  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

a  huge  brick  structure  near  the  stream,  of  the  Lombard  era, 
which  is  therefore  probably  a  last  remnant  of  the  royal  edifice ; 
in  the  subsequent  Middle  Ages  it  was  made,  and  still  is,  a 
part  of  the  city  enceinture, —  connected  with  the  adjacent 
gateway  which  is  called  "  Porta  Salara."  The  palace  was 
still  standing  as  late  as  the  tenth  century;  when  it  was 
burned  in  a  general  conflagration  started  by  the  Ger- 
man troops  of  Emperor  Adalbert,  during  his  visit  of 
924.24 

With  the  attainment  of  the  river-bank  a  splendid  prospect 
burst  upon  my  eyes:  this  was  the  noble  stream  itself,  some 
200  yards  wide,  shining  gloriously  in  the  dazzling  sun,  sweep- 
ing on  with  resistless,  impetuous  current,  and  curving  far 
away  to  the  southeast.  The  opposite  shore  was  lined  with 
the  straggling  houses  of  the  suburb,  bounded  on  each  hand 
by  a  flat,  marshy  country  largely  overgrown  with  wood, 
whose  reed-beds  in  the  west  extended  well  into  the  water. 
Along  both  banks  stretched  the  laundry  of  the  city, —  scores 
of  bright-hued  women  kneeling  over  the  edges  of  the  cur- 
rent, acres  of  white  linen  spread  to  dry  upon  the  stones,  a 
forest  of  variegated  garments  swinging  from  sticks  and  lines. 
But  the  chief  object  in  the  landscape  was  the  grand  old  bridge, 
now  close  upon  my  right,  striding  majestically  across  the 
stream  on  eight  or  nine  splendid,  white  stone  arches  of  enor- 
mous size,  springing  from  massive  piers  of  the  same  material ; 
—  that  bridge  which  has  been  truly  called  "  one  of  the  most 
curious  objects  in  Italy,  and  one  of  the  most  striking  monu- 
ments of  the  energy  and  activity  of  the  Italians  of  the  Mid- 
dle Age." 

Though  built  as  long  ago  as  1350,  it  looked  still  in  perfect 
condition, —  except  perhaps  for  the  decaying  wooden  roof, 
which  was  tiled  without,  and  supported  by  two  long  gleaming 

24  See  Ricci's  "  Storia  dell'  Architettura,"  Vol.  I. 


PAVIA  THE  PIOUS  275 

colonnades  of  quadrangular  granite  shafts,  tapering  toward 
the  top  and  faced  within  by  pilasters.  At  the  middle,  and 
highest  point,  rose  its  picturesque  two-storied  guard-house, 
arching  the  passage.  But  the  whole  structure,  set  in  such  a 
brilliant  scene,  beside  the  ancient,  towered  city,  was  more  pic- 
turesque than  pen  can  tell.25  Across  it  poured,  in  each  direc- 
tion, a  steady  procession  of  townsfolk  and  peasantry,  the  latter 
in  large  part  driving  mules  or  oxen,  or  riding  diminutive  don- 
keys,—  their  two-wheeled  carts  bound  cityward  being  laden 
with  garden  produce  or  piles  of  sawed  wood.  These  one 
and  all  paid  dazio  duty  under  the  tall  gateway  at  the  bridge's 
hither  end,  an  ornamental  construction  of  the  government  of 
Napoleon.  And  I  reflected  how  much  more  interesting  must 
have  been  the  scene  in  that  epoch,  when  the  Ponte  was  still 
crowded  with  its  innumerable  little  mediaeval  "  oratories,  and 
temporary  chapels,  mostly  consecrated  to  the  Virgin,  but 
raised  equally  for  exciting  piety  or  extorting  charity;  when 
each  shrine  was  guarded  by  a  very  noisy  solicitor  in  a  pil- 
grim's habit,  demanding  carita  in  the  name  of  the  Madonna, 
and  of  all  the  saints  who  had  taken  the  bridge  under  their 
special  protection." 

Shortly  to  the  northwest  of  this  spot  there  stands,  in  a 
little  back  street,  another  old  church  of  the  Lombard  era, 
S.  Teodoro,  which  once  enjoyed  some  fame  for  its  character- 
istic architecture  and  sculpture,  but  has  in  modern  times  been 
so  altered  that  it  no  longer  merits  notice.  Scores  of  the 
religious  edifices  with  which  Pavia  was  filled  in  mediaeval 
times,   have   entirely   disappeared;   of   the   forty-six  wealthy 

25  Petrarch  spoke  of  it  admiringly. —  Sen.,  V.  i. —  The  present 
colonnaded  roof  dates  from  1583.  Upon  the  farther  bank  a  pleasant 
walk  runs  along  the  river,  commanding  interesting  views  of  the  city; 
and  one  may  take  an  even  pleasanter  boat-ride,  for  ij4  francs  per 
hour. 


276  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

convents  which  remained  in  habitation  as  late  as  the  reign 
of  Emperor  Joseph  II,  not  one  exists  today. 

I  had  now  finished  my  visit  to  Pavia,  proper,  with 
the  exception  of  several  minor  churches,26  and  the 
Museo, —  to  which  I  proceeded  to  devote  a  full  afternoon, 
finding  amongst  its  collection  of  nearly  500  paintings  quite 
a  number  of  value;  these  were  mostly  the  works  of  which 
the  churches  had  been  so  freely  stripped,  and  which  I  had 
missed  in  their  desolate  interiors. 

The  ground  floor  of  Palazzo  Malaspina  contained  only 
relics  of  the  Risorgimento.  From  its  court  I  mounted  to  a 
narrow  upper  hall  with  insignificant  canvases,  labelled  Room 
I,  which  opened  into  a  large,  central,  front  chamber, —  num- 
bered II ;  here  there  was  an  extensive  assortment  of  paintings, 
of  many  schools,  but  mostly  mediocre  and  poor  in  quality. 
Chief  amongst  the  better  class  were  a  fine  specimen  of 
Liberale  of  Verona, —  the  Madonna  standing  in  adoration  be- 
fore her  Child,  clad  in  a  lustrous  white  robe  spangled  with 
golden  stars, —  and  a  panel  of  the  Madonna  with  the  two 
sacred  infants,  before  a  quaint  background  (52),  which  I 
judged  to  be  a  valuable  specimen  of  the  rare  Buonfigli  of 
Perugia.  Upon  the  right  here  opened  the  third  room,  equally 
large  and  well  filled,  but  distinguished  by  more  pictures  of  the 
first  order.  Of  the  Venetian  school,  there  were  —  a  panel  of 
Luigi  Vivarini,  showing  Sts.  Francis  and  John  the  Baptist, 

26  Among  these  minor  churches  I  found  two  only  worth  noting: 
that  of  SS.  Primo  e  Feliciano,  for  its  ancient  ruinous  fagade  of  the 
12th  century,  and  its  ancona  of  1498  by  Agostino  da  Vaprio, — a 
Madonna  with  two  saints, —  considered  one  of  the  best  surviving 
pictures  of  the  Pavesan  school  of  the  quattrocento ;  and  the  edifice  of 
S.  Eusebio,  for  its  remarkable  crypt  of  the  first  half  of  the  seventh 
century,  with  its  curious  ribbed  vaulting,  and  its  archaic  capitals  of 
the  columns,  which  are  judged  to  be  the  most  ancient  example  of  the 
"  cubic "  capitals  of  the  pre-Lombard  style. 


PAVIA  THE  PIOUS  277 

walking  together;  a  characteristic  and  very  lovely  Madonna 
and  Child  by  Giov.  Bellini  (signed),  and  a  large  Annuncia- 
tion in  the  peculiar  chiaroscuro  of  Palma  Giovane  (30).  Of 
the  Paduan  school  of  Squarcione  was  an  interesting  Madonna 
with  two  Saints  Anthony,  in  a  bower  of  greenery  (54)  ;  of 
the  Veronese  school,  a  handsome  Marriage  of  St.  Catherine, 
with  St.  Francis  in  rear  and  a  couple  of  little  angels  over- 
head, by  Paolo  Farinata;  of  the  Milanese,  a  small  but 
glorious  fresco  by  Bern.  Luini,  displaying  the  half-figure  of 
a  lady,  and.  several  fine  works  of  unknown  authorship,  in- 
cluding a  very  Leonardesque  Holy  Family  (73)  ;  of  the 
Florentine, —  a  Madonna  with  two  infants,  half-figures,  by 
Fra  Bartolomeo ;  of  the  Vercelli, —  a  charming  example  of 
Girolamo  Giovenone,  the  four  Doctors  of  the  Church,  de- 
picted as  stately,  full-length  figures,  very  handsome  and  life- 
like ;  and  there  were  several,  other,  anonymous  works  of  much 
merit,  including  a  Madonna  with  two  enchanting  angels 
(43)  and  a  pleasing  Adoration  of  the  Magi,  done  in  fresco, 
in  a  bright  tone  and  gay  colours  (133).  The  specimen  of 
Correggio  here  was  damaged  beyond  attractiveness  or  value. 

The  fourth  room,  on  the  south  side  of  No.  II,  proved  to 
contain  a  fair  collection  of  engravings,  embroideries,  and 
other  objets  d'art;  including  the  original  plan  for  the  facade 
of  the  Duomo,  and  a  very  remarkable  piece  of  broidery  de- 
picting the  chase  of  a  stag,  which  was  the  gift  of  the  late 
Emperor  of  Austria. —  On  departing  I  observed  in  the  walls 
of  the  courtyard  three  beautiful  terracotta  windows, —  one 
frame  being  delightfully  carved  into  a  string  of  putti;  while 
the  centre  held  a  classic  marble  statue  of  Apollo.  And  in 
wending  my  way  back  to  the  inn  I  discovered  some  further 
charming  cotta  work,  upon  the  windows  and  cornices  of  a 
handsome  old  palace  on  the  south  side  of  Corso  Cavour. 

Before  departing,  finally,  there  were  two  interesting  old 


278  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

churches  to  be  visited  without  the  city,  upon  the  highway 
leading  northwestward  up  the  Ticino, —  S.  Salvatore  and  S. 
Lanfranco  (the  latter  originally  named  S.  Sepolcro),  situ- 
ated respectively  about  one-half  mile  and  one  mile  beyond 
the  Porta  Cavour.  Both  were  edifices  of  the  Lombard 
period, —  S.  Salvatore  having  been  erected  by  King  Aribert 
in  the  7th  century,  S.  Lanfranco  by  the  imperialists  of  the 
nth  century;  but  the  latter  looks  much  the  older,  because 
it  has  conserved  its  type,  while  the  former  was  reconstructed 
in  the  quattrocento.  The  latter,  too,  besides  its  characteristic 
forms  and  carvings,  is  connected  with  a  small  cloister  deco- 
rated with  beautiful  quattrocento  terracotta  sculptures,  in  the 
manner  of  Amadeo,  and  is  adorned  with  the  second  great 
shrine  of  Pavia, — the  Area  of  S.  Lanfranco.  This  saint  was 
not,  as  is  often  asserted,  the  renowned  monk  of  Pavia  in  the 
nth  century,  who,  celebrated  in  Normandy  for  his  vast 
clerical  learning,  became  the  adviser  of  William  the  Con- 
queror, and  was  by  him  elevated  to  be  the  first  Norman 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury;  this  was  that  Lanfranco  Beccari 
who  became  Bishop  of  Pavia  in  11 80,  and  closed  his  beneficent 
life  at  this  church  and  monastery  of  S.  Sepolcro,  since  named 
after  him. 

The  area  is  one  of  the  greatest  and  the  latest  works  of 
Amadeo,  executed  in  1498.  It  rises  to  a  height  of  nearly  30 
feet,  sustained  upon  six  slender  corinthian  columns,  with 
fanciful,  bulging,  vase-like  pedestals,  which  are  mounted  upon 
smaller,  cubical  plinths, —  a  strange  combination.  The  sar- 
cophagus is  plain  in  form,  but  decorated  with  the  usual  three 
reliefs  on  each  side  and  one  upon  each  end,  representing 
scenes  from  the  bishop's  life ;  these  are  designed  with  admira- 
ble perspectives  and  landscape-backgrounds,  and  their  multi- 
tude of  delightful  little  figures,  typically  slender  and  grace- 
ful, are  arranged  in  most  effective,  dramatic  groupings,  while 


PAVIA  THE  PIOUS  279 

yet  reflecting  intense  devotional  feeling.  Six  similar  reliefs 
adorn  a  smaller  cube,  raised  above  the  sarcophagus  on  frail 
supports,  and  capped  by  an  airy  canopy.  It  is  an  example  of 
the  master's  very  best  work,  and  exceedingly  enjoyable.27 

The  other  suburban  church,  S.  Salvatore,  is  interesting 
both  for  its  artistic  decorations  and  its  historical  associations. 
King  Aribert,  who  raised  the  edifice,  was  buried  there  soon 
after  its  construction,  in  661 ;  and  it  subsequently  gave 
sepulture  to  other  Lombard  monarchs.  In  999,  as  evidenced 
by  a  tablet  still  to  be  seen  in  the  nave,  occurred  the  burial  of 
the  beautiful  Queen  Adelaide,  the  widow  both  of  King  Lo- 
thaire  and  also  of  Otto  the  Great,  the  first  of  the  conquering 
German  emperors.  Berengarius  II,  it  will  be  remembered, 
after  slaying  treacherously  by  poison  her  first  husband  and 
succeeding  to  his  throne  of  Lombardy,  tried  in  vain  to  force 
her  into  a  marriage  with  his  son  Adalbert;  and  after  the 
failure  of  his  wiles,  conveyed  her  by  force  to  a  prison-tower 
beside  the  Lake  of  Garda.  Thence  she  was  later  rescued 
by  a  pitying  priest.  Otto  of  Germany  seized  the  tale  of  her 
woes  as  a  convenient  excuse  for  invading  Lombardy  with  a 
mighty  host,  driving  Berengarius  from  his  seat,  and  having 
himself  crowned  in  his  stead  at  Pavia.  Conquered  then  him- 
self, by  Adelaide's  charms,  he  married  her  at  Pavia  in  951, 
and  carried  her  back  with  him  to  Germany.  In  988  she 
returned  to  Pavia,  to  assume  the  regency  for  Otto  III,  her 
second  husband's  youthful  nephew;  and  then  it  was  that  she 
erected,  annexed  to  this  church,  the  spacious  monastery  of  the 
Benedictines,  after  having  enlarged  the  sacred  edifice  itself. 
In  the  later  quattrocento  the  buildings  were  restored  and  re- 
decorated; to  which  period  are  due  most  of  the  frescoes,  the 

27  "  These  bassorilievi " — wrote  the  critic,  Meyer, — "  are  the  most 
beautiful  and  accurate  that  Amadeo  ever  sculped";  and  I  am  in- 
clined to  agree  with  him  in  this  judgment. 


28o  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

handsome  choir-stalls,  and  the  sculptures  of  the  high-altar 
and  the  cloisters, —  the  last  being  now  converted  to  a  bar- 
rack. 

The  high-renaissance  adornments  of  the  church,  though 
incongruous  with  the  gothic  construction,  render  it  a  brilliant 
and  somewhat  imposing  edifice;  the  side-walls  and  pillars, 
the  frieze  and  roof,  being  one  rich  mass  of  fanciful  stucco- 
work,  gilding  and  affreschi, —  on  the  unmistakable  lines  of 
the  Cremona  school.  The  first  chapel  on  the  left  contains 
those  frescoes  the  most  interesting  and  valuable, —  a  fine, 
well  preserved  series  by  Andrino  d'Edesia,  depicting  scenes 
from  the  life  of  S.  Majolo,  Abbate:  perhaps  the  best  remain- 
ing example  of  that  artist's  work,  and  of  the  Pavesan  school 
of  the  early  Renaissance. 


CHAPTER  IX 

LODI  AND  CREMA 

"Italia!   O  Italia!  thou  who  hast 
The  fatal   gift  of  beauty,  which  became 
A  funeral  dower  of  present  woes  and  past, 
On  thy  sweet  brow  is  sorrow  ploughed  by  shame, 
And  annals  graved  in  characters  of  flame." 

Lord  Byron. 

Twenty  miles  southeast  of  Milan,  and  thirty  miles  south 
of  Bergamo,  upon  the  eastern  border  of  the  Milanese,  the 
Adda,  stands  the  little  city  of  Lodi,  with  27,000  inhabitants; 
renowned  amongst  Italians  for  its  prominent  imperialistic 
part  in  their  history  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  amongst  for- 
eigners chiefly  for  the  critical  capture  of  its  bridge  in  1796, 
by  the  great  Napoleon.  Important,  however,  as  this  exploit 
was  to  the  Conqueror's  successes,  it  stands  insignificant  com- 
pared with  Lodi's  centuries  of  troublous  and  varied  history. 

About  100  years  before  Christ,  Pompeius  Strabo,  the  father 
of  Pompey  the  Great,  planted  a  Roman  colony  here,  five 
miles  to  the  west  of  the  river  and  the  present  town, —  a  typi- 
cal incident  in  the  long,  slow  process  of  Latinization  of 
Cisalpine  Gaul,  and  but  one  of  the  long  chain  of  military 
settlements  designed  to  hold  in  check  the  Celtic  Insubres, 
who  then  occupied  the  district  of  the  Milanese.  It  was 
called  after  its  founder,  La'us  Pompeia,  the  first  word  of 
which  —  from  the  Latin  dative,  Laudi, —  in  the  course  of  a 
thousand  years  became  corrupted  to  Lodi.  Situated  in  the 
midst  of  the  most  fertile  section  of  that  luxuriant  plain,  the 
town  survived  the  fall  of  the  Western  Empire,  escaped  de- 

281 


282  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

struction  at  the  hands  of  the  successive  barbaric  invaders, — 
perhaps  from  its  then  insignificance  —  and  with  the  wane  of 
Frankish  power  became  an  independent  republic;  this  waxed 
mightily  from  the  9th  to  the  12th  century,  into  a  large 
and  powerful  city  that  was,  next  to  Pavia,  the  most  de- 
termined upholder  of  the  Ghibelline  cause.  Ever  foremost 
in  any  effort  to  advance  imperialistic  ideas  or  welfare,  it 
was  Pavia's  first  lieutenant  in  the  company  of  Ghibelline 
towns;  and  the  forces  which  it  put  into  the  field  in  the 
nth  and  12th  centuries,  the  undertakings  which  it  ac- 
complished, prove  it  to  have  been  a  city  of  the  first  rank, 
much  larger  than  at  present.  It  was  visited  and  fa- 
voured by  successive  emperors,  up  to  and  including  Frederick 
Barbarossa,  who  with  good  reason  esteemed  the  people  of 
Lodi  as  one  of  his  most  valuable  and  faithful  allies. 

The  propinquity  of  Milan,  in  those  days  the  head  of  the 
Guelf  party,  naturally  brought  it  into  frequent  collision  with 
the  imperialistic  ideas  of  Lodi ;  and  the  final  result  was  a  dis- 
aster to  the  latter,  similar  to  that  which  overwhelmed  Civita 
Castellana  at  the  hands  of  the  Romans,  centuries  before. 
Milan  conquered  the  ancient  city,  and  razed  it  to  the  ground, 
compelling  its  inhabitants  to  seek  shelter  in  the  adjacent  vil- 
lages; thus  paving  the  way  for  the  very  same  calamity  to 
herself,  which  Barbarossa  soon  inflicted.  This  happened 
shortly  before  the  latter's  first  descent  into  Italy,  in  1154; 
and  was  one  of  the  first  grievances  brought  to  him  at  the  diet 
of  Roncaglia,  by  the  deputies  of  the  ruined  town.  Frederick 
thereupon  "  proposed  —  to  punish  in  particular  the  Milanese 
for  their  arrogance, —  and  to  oblige  Milan  to  render  to  the 
towns  of  Lodi  and  Como,  which  it  had  dismantled,  all  the 
privileges  which  Milan  itself  enjoyed."  x     From  that  time  he 

1  Sismondi's  "  Italian   Republics." 


LODI  AND  CREMA  283 

did  not  cease  his  attacks,  until  the  metropolis  had  been  meted 
out  its  terrible  fate. 

Ancient  Lodi  never  arose  from  its  devastation;  but  its  in- 
habitants continued  dwelling  in  the  villages  near-by,  and  in 
1 158,  Frederick,  "following  the  course  of  the  Adda,  made 
choice  of  a  situation  about  four  miles  from  the  ruins  of  the 
former  Lodi.  Here  he  ordered  the  people  of  Lodi  to  rebuild 
their  town,  which  would  in  future  secure  to  him  the  passage 
of  the  Adda.  He  summoned  thither  also  the  militias  of 
Pavia  and  Cremona,  with  those  of  the  other  towns  of  Lom- 
bardy,  which  their  jealousy  of  Milan  had  attached  to  the 
Ghibelline  party."  la  In  this  extraordinary  manner  sprang 
up  the  present  Lodi.  That  it  was  quickly  erected  into  a  city 
of  some  size,  with  proper  churches,  inns,  and  public  buildings 
of  every  nature,  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  only  8  years  later, 
in  1 1 66,  the  Emperor  assembled  there  an  important  diet, 
of  the  representatives  of  all  his  faithful  Italian  boroughs. 
In  the  counter-assemblage,  the  following  year,  at  which  the 
League  of  Lombardy  was  formed  against  him,  Lodi,  with 
Pavia,  refused  to  take  part;  but  was  later  compelled  by  the 
allied  cities  "  by  force  of  arms,  to  take  an  oath ;  " —  a  thing 
which  they  could  not  force  upon  the  powerful  metropolis  of 
the  Lombards. 

Before  this  time,  however,  the  people  of  Lodi  had  secured 
their  revenge  upon  the  Milanese  by  helping  Barbarossa  in 
his  capture  of  the  great  city,  which  he  accomplished  only 
through  famine.  For  three  whole  years  he  kept  Milan  in- 
vested, the  crops  and  fruit  trees  cut  down  for  15  miles  on 
every  side,  and  all  entry  of  eatables  prevented  by  incessant 
watchfulness.  It  is  related  how  he  "  commanded  the  Ger- 
mans and  the  men  of  Lodi  to  watch  the  roads  day  and  night, 

!a  Sismondi's  "  Italian  Republics." 


284  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

lest  the  men  of  Brescia  and  Piacenza  should  carry  provisions 
to  the  Milanese."  When  the  final  surrender  came,  in  March 
1 162,  the  militia  of  Lodi  marched  beside  the  Emperor  into 
the  doomed  city;  "  and  he  commanded  the  men  of  Lodi  to  de- 
stroy the  Eastern  gate,  with  La  Tora,"  while  the  other  quar- 
ters were  similarly  parcelled  out  for  rasure.  "  The  men  of 
Lodi,  mindful  of  their  injuries  received  from  the  Milanesi, 
not  only  destroyed  the  Eastern  gate,  but  a  great  part  of  the 
Roman. —  Lamentations  mingled  with  the  sound  of  arms, 
until  it  seemed  as  if  heaven  and  earth  together  were  falling 
in  ruins."  2 

But  Lodi,  strange  to  say,  later  compelled  by  force  to  join  the 
Lombard  League,  remained  then  Guelfic  of  her  own  accord; 
united  with  Milan  and  other  cities  of  that  persuasion,  she  par- 
ticipated in  the  disastrous  defeat  of  Ghibello,  1218,  adminis- 
tered by  the  Ghibellines;  and  in  1226  she  joined  in  the  renew- 
ing of  the  Lombard  compact  against  Frederick  II.  So  far 
did  she  now  go  in  her  Guelfic  tendencies,  that  in  1259  she 
elected  as  her  military  lord  Martino  della  Torre,  the  captain 
of  Milan;  thus  voluntarily  and  unsuspectingly  entering  upon 
a  thraldom  which  soon  became  servitude,  and  held  her  pros- 
trate for  centuries.  When  Archbishop  Otho  Visconti  dispos- 
sessed the  Della  Torre  in  1277,  Lodi  received  him  "  with  en- 
thusiasm " ;  and  accepted  as  her  immediate  masters  the  local 
family  of  the  Fisiraga,  under  the  appointment  of  Otho  and 
Matteo.  It  was  Antonio  Fisiraga  who  laid  down  the 
tyranny  of  Lodi  at  the  behest  of  Emperor  Henry  VII,  in 
1310. 

The  city  nevertheless  remained  subject  to  the  Visconti, 
being  included  in  "  the  sixteen  flourishing  towns  "  that  obeyed 
Archbishop  Giovanni,  toward  the  middle  of  that  century, 
and  forming  a  portion  of  the  domains  of  Galeazzo  II  during 

2  E.  Seeley's  "  Artists  of  the  Renaissance." 


LODI  AND  CREMA  285 

his  rule  at  Pavia;  while  in  1395  it  was  listed  in  the  decree  of 
Emperor  Wesceslaus  granting  the  Duchy  of  Milan  to  Gian 
Galeazzo.  Under  the  latter's  sway,  and  probably  that  of  his 
father,  the  local  despots  representing  them  at  Lodi  were 
changed  to  the  family  of  the  Vistarini;  as  is  proved  by  the 
glimpse  afforded  us  upon  the  death  of  Gian  Galeazzo,  when 
the  resulting  turmoil  was  taken  advantage  of  by  the  earlier 
line  of  tyrants  to  regain  possession  of  their  power:  "At 
Lodi,  in  1402,  Antonio  Fisiraga  (a  namesake  of  him  who  was 
displaced  by  Henry  VII)  burned  the  chief  members  of  the 
ruling  house  of  Vistarini  on  the  public  square ;  and  died  him- 
self of  poison  after  a  few  months.  His  successor  in  the 
tyranny,  Giovanni  Vignate  (a  millionaire,  who  purchased  his 
elevation)  was  imprisoned  by  Filippo  Maria  Visconti  in  a 
wooden  cage  at  Pavia,  and  beat  his  brains  out  in  despair 
against  its  bars."  3  Truly  a  typical  picture,  of  that  most  ter- 
rible age  of  the  world's  history. 

As  if  exhausted  by  this  outburst,  Lodi  remained  quiet  for 
the  next  hundred  years,  until  the  French  occupation  of  Lom- 
bardy;  then  she  suffered  a  disaster,  in  1522,  when  garrisoned 
by  the  French  army  under  Lescun;  for  the  latter  was  sur- 
prised and  driven  out  by  a  sudden  attack  of  the  imperialistic 
forces,  who  forthwith  sacked  the  city.  They  followed  up 
Lescun,  and  compelled  him  to  capitulate  at  Cremona.  This 
was  the  cause  of  the  first  French  evacuation  of  Lombardy, 
and  the  installation  of  Maximilian  Sforza  as  Duke.  The 
Spaniards  and  their  allies  remained  in  force  at  Lodi;  and 
made  the  town  their  headquarters  upon  the  return  of  King 
Francis  with  his  new  army.  While  he  besieged  Pavia,  the 
imperialists   slowly   gathered    their   strength   at   Lodi,    until 

3  Symonds'  "  Age  of  the  Despots." —  Filippo  had  seized  by  treach- 
ery both  Vignate  and  his  son,  after  they  had  solemnly  acknowledged 
his  lordship,  and  been  confirmed  as  his  vicars. 


286  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

they  felt  strong  enough,  in  February,  1525,  to  advance  and 
give  him  battle.  The  city  suffered  severely  from  being  at 
the  heart  of  this  great  struggle ;  and  after  it  was  ended,  she 
suffered  equally  with  her  neighbours  from  its  long  desolat- 
ing effects,  and  from  the  terrible  "  seven  Spanish  devils." 
Like  Pavia,  she  was  for  a  time  nearly  exterminated. 

With  the  coming  of  the  French  again  under  Bonaparte, 
Lodi  once  more  found  herself  at  the  centre  of  strife,  owing 
to  her  critical  position  in  command  of  the  only  bridge  across 
the  Adda  between  Treviglio  and  Pizzighettone.  At  one  of 
the  three  places  Bonaparte  must  pass,  if  he  would  drive  the 
Austrians  from  the  plain ;  for  they  had  retreated  behind  the 
Adda,  and  held  the  bridge  of  Pizzighettone,  where  they  ex- 
pected the  French  to  make  their  effort  to  cross,  by  a  force 
too  strong  to  be  dislodged  under  such  conditions.  But  Bona- 
parte, leaving  a  division  there  to  mask  his  movements,  made 
one  of  his  sudden,  forced  marches  to  Lodi,  with  the  main 
part  of  his  army,  and  instantly  attacked  the  Austrians  who 
were  guarding  the  bridge  with  20  guns.  After  great  loss 
the  passage  was  finally  carried,  not  —  as  has  so  often  been 
said  —  under  the  personal  leadership  of  Bonaparte,  but  under 
that  of  Berthier,  Lannes,  Massena  and  other  generals.  The 
wreck  of  the  Austrian  force  succeeded  in  rejoining  its  main 
body,  which  at  once  retreated  behind  the  Mincio;  while  Na- 
poleon from  Lodi  sent  a  triumphant  despatch  to  the  Direc- 
tory, stating  that  "  the  whole  of  Lombardy  belonged  to  the 
Republic." — "  It  was  on  this  tenth  of  May  that  Bonaparte 
first  felt,  as  he  tells  us,  that  he  was  destined  to  be  great."  4 

There  are  two  ways  of  proceeding  by  rail  from  Pavia  to 
Lodi ;  one  is  by  the  steam-tramway,  which  runs  straightaway 
northeast  to  that  destination,  passing  midway  the  large  but 
uninteresting  village   of   S.   Angelo   Lodigiano,   where   it   is 

4  G.  Cooper's  "  Italian  Campaigns  of  Gen.  Bonaparte." 


LODI  AND  CREMA  287 

necessary  to  change  cars  and  make  a' wait  of  some  time;  the 
trip  requires  in  all  three  to  four  hours,  and  is  not  worth  the 
trouble.  The  other  route  is  by  the  eastbound  railroad  to 
Cremona,  as  far  as  Casalpusterlengo, —  where  a  transfer  is 
made  to  the  main  line  running  northward ;  a  trip  of  but  half 
the  time  of  the  first-named.  The  latter  was  accordingly  my 
choice.  In  setting  out  upon  it,  however,  I  was  leaving  be- 
hind me,  unvisited,  one  corner  of  Lombardy.  This  was  the 
so-called  I/omellina,  a  district  about  25  miles  square  on  the 
farther  side  of  the  Ticino,  bounded  by  the  Po  and  Ticino  on 
the  south  and  east,  and  the  Sesia  on  the  west.  It  is,  there- 
fore, geographically  not  a  part  of  the  Lombard  province, 
and  in  fact  belonged  to  Piedmont  until  the  modern  reconstruc- 
tion of  United  Italy. 

But  I  had  another  sufficient  reason  for  not  including  it  in 
my  present  tour:  its  only  two  cities,  Mortara  and  Vigevano, 
of  9,000  and  24,000  inhabitants  respectively,  located  in  its 
northern  part  within  a  dozen  miles  of  the  Ticino,  have 
neither  of  them  sufficient  interest  to  warrant  a  visit.  Mor- 
tara has  one  good  picture,  the  Madonna  with  Sts.  Roch  and 
Sebastian  by  Gaudenzio  Ferrari,  and  several  of  lesser  worth 
by  Lanini  and  the  decadents;  Vigevano  has  a  large  and  pic- 
turesque central  piazza,  framed  in  Renaissance  arcades,  and 
a  castle  built  by  the  Visconti,  to  which  the  despots  of  Milan 
occasionally  resorted  in  the  summertime.  This  is  ponder- 
ously gothic  in  design,  with  two  renaissance  features  added 
by  Bramante  under  the  directions  of  Lodovico  Sforza, — 
who  seems  to  have  been  fond  of  the  place,  having  also  adorned 
its  piazza.  A  graceful  loggia,  and  a  tall  tower  like  that  of 
Filarete  upon  the  Castello  of  Milan,  constitute  Bramante's 
additions.  Aside  from  these  things,  and  a  few  old  churches 
of  different  epochs,  the  Lomellina  contains  nothing  worthy 
of  annotation. —  On  the  opposite,  eastern  side  of  the  Ticino, 


288  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

a  dozen  miles  west  of  Milan,  lies  a  town  which  was  much 
more  of  a  summer-resort  for  the  despots, —  Abbiategrasso, 
whose  name  we  are  always  encountering  in  the  Lombard 
chronicles  of  the  quattrocento.  But  its  castle,  to  which  the 
gay  court  so  often  repaired,  and  its  model  dairy-farm  which 
the  Moro  delighted  to  show  to  his  princely  visitors,  have 
gone  the  way  of  the  past ;  and  naught  now  remains  worthy  of 
inspection  save  the  church  which  Bramante  erected  for 
Lodovico,  in  his  typical  style. — 

The  journey  from  Pavia  to  Lodi  revealed  no  new  features 
in  the  luxuriant,  well-watered  plain,  whose  closely  set  riches 
gleamed  joyously  in  the  dazzling  June  sunshine.  At  the 
village  of  Belgiojoso,  9  miles  from  Pavia,  I  was  reminded  of 
the  line  of  noble  princes  of  that  name,  several  of  whom  dis- 
tinguished themselves  in  Lombard  history ;  —  but  none  of 
them  more  so  than  their  brilliant  daughter-in-law  who  played 
such  a  striking  part  in  the  Risorgimento:  that  woman  5  "  of 
remarkable  presence  —  a  sincere,  a  passionate  crusader, —  ro- 
mantic, in  spite  of  herself,  in  a  life  of  eminent  exile,  of  con- 
spiracy, of  all  sorts  of  adventurous  fellowship — (with)  her 
strange,  pale,  penetrating  beauty,  without  bloom,  that  was 
yet  the  mark  of  an  astounding  masculine  energy."  Chris- 
tina Trivulzio,6  Princess  of  Belgiojoso,  we  remember  fleeing 
as  a  young  woman  from  the  Austrian  tryanny  at  Milan,  to 
lead  for  a  time  the  fashionable  world  of  Paris,  assiduously 
cultivating  art  and  letters;  we  remember  her  in  '47  laying 
aside  that  life,  to  raise  and  equip  from  her  own  resources  a 

5  Henry  James'  "  William  Wetmore  Story." 

«  Of  her  own  family  of  Trivulzio  it  is  said:  "  The  aristocracy  of 
Europe  boasts  no  bluer  blood  than  that  which  runs  in  the  veins  of 
this  distinguished  race,  tracing  descent  from  the  12th  century,  and 
numbering  amongst  its  scions  marshals  of  France." —  H.  R.  White- 
house  in  his  "  A  Revolutionary  Princess." 


LODI  AND  CREMA  289 

patriotic  regiment  of  cavalry,  at  the  head  of  which  she  en- 
tered revolted  Milan,  wildly  acclaimed  by  the  people, —  and 
for  which  these  wide  hereditary  lands  were  duly  confiscated ; 
and  again  we  behold  her,  in  '49,  conspicuous  at  the  siege  of 
Rome,  animating  every  heart  by  her  courage  and  activity, 
furnishing  and  directing  the  hospitals  for  the  wounded,  and 
tending  them  with  a  loving  care. 

"Her  hair  was  tawny  with  gold;  her  eyes  with  purple  were  dark; 

Her  cheeks'  pale  opal  burnt  with  a  red  and  restless  spark. 

Never  was  lady  of  Milan  nobler  in  name  and  in  race; 

Never  was  lady  of  Italy  fairer  to  see  in  the  face. — 

Gorgeous   she   entered   the   sunlight,    which    gathered    her    up    in   a 

flame, 
While  straight  in  her  open  carriage,  she  to  the  hospital  came. 
In  she  went  at  the  door,  and  gazing  from  end  to  end, 
'Many  and  low  are  the  pallets;  but  each  is  the  place  of  a  friend.' 
Up  she  passed  through  the  wards,  and  stood  at  a  young  man's  bed: 
Bloody  the  band  on  his  brow,  and  livid  the  droop  of  his  head. 
'Art  thou  a  Lombard,  my  brother?     Happy  art  thou!'  she  cried, 
And  smiled  like  Italy  on  him;  he  dreamed  in  her  face — and  died. — 
Faint  with  that  strain  of  heart,  she  moved  on  then  to  another, 
Stern  and  strong  in  his  death.     'And  dost  thou  suffer,  my  brother?' 
Holding  his  hands  in  hers:  'Out  of  the  Piedmont  lion 
Cometh  the  sweetness  of  freedom,  sweetest  to  live  or  to  die  on."  7 

The  magnificent  castle  of  Belgiojoso,  which  was  the  scene 
of  splendid  entertainments  in  the  days  of  Maria  Theresa, 
when  its  princes  held  high  authority  at  Milan,  still  stands 
in  fair  repair ;  and  I  also  caught,  as  I  thought,  a  sight  of  the 
great  aqueduct  that  was  constructed  by  them  to  bring  water 
to  their  spacious  gardens  of  historic  beauty,  and  their  pater- 
nally guided  little  town. 

After  the  change  of  trains  at  Casalpusterlengo  (what  a 
mouthful)  we  soon  approached  Lodi  through  a  country  more 

7  Mrs.  Browning's  "  A  Court  Lady."—  See  also  Raff  aelo  Bar- 
biera's  "  La  Principessa  Belgiojoso." 


290  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

strikingly  fruitful  than  any  district  yet  beheld,  every  square 
yard  of  its  rich  loam  being  minutely  cultivated,  with  magic 
effects.  Irrigation  has  ever  been  the  wonder-worker  in  this 
great  garden  between  the  Lambro  and  the  Adda;  I  saw  the 
innumerable  ditches  and  rivulets  traversing  its  fields,  in  large 
part  prettily  lined  with  trees.  Its  fecundity  has  been  famous 
for  hundreds  of  years.  Evelyn  wrote  in  the  17th  century: 
"  Passing  through  a  continual  garden,  we  went  on  with  ex- 
ceeding pleasure,  for  it  is  the  paradise  of  Lombardy,  the 
highways  being  as  even  and  straight  as  a  line,  the  fields  to 
a  vast  extent  planted  with  fruit  about  the  enclosures,  vines 
to  every  tree  at  equal  distances,  and  watered  with  frequent 
streams.  There  was  likewise  much  corne,  and  olives  in 
aboundance."  s 

Here  is  produced  all  the  celebrated  Parmesan  cheese, — 
not  any  being  now  made  at  Parma;  and  this  accounted  for 
the  remarkable  sight  of  extensive  grazing  pastures  in  land  so 
rich.  The  meadows  devoted  to  the  great  herds  of  cows  are 
freely  irrigated  for  most  of  the  year ;  which  not  only  furnishes 
grass  of  exceptional  growth  and  peculiar  succulence,  but  in 
many  places,  where  warm  springs  are  available  for  winter 
use,  enables  the  cattle  to  continue  grazing  through  the  cold 
months;  so  it  is  no  wonder  that  they  have  the  reputation  of 
producing  a  third  to  a  half  more  milk  than  is  possible  else- 
where,—  besides  making  it  of  that  special  richness  and  flavour 
which  are  necessary  to  the  cheese.  And  what  would  mac- 
caroni  be  without  Parmesan,  or  Italy  without  maccaroni ! 

The  station  of  Lodi  proved  to  be  on  the  west  of  the  city; 

8  Evelyn's  "Diary  and  Letters." — "  Je  ne  puis  trop  exalter" — 
wrote  also  Charles  de  Brosses  of  this  countryside  in  1740 — "la 
beaute  des  routes,  et  de  tout  le  pays,  riche  et  fecond,  partout  plante 
de  beaux  arbres,  et  coupe  d'une  quantite  de  Canaux  entre  lesquels  on 
marche  presque  toujours." — Lettres  sur  I'ltalle. 


LODI  AND  CREMA  291 

and  a  tree-shaded  avenue  led  me  quickly,  following  a  facchino 
bearing  my  luggage,  to  an  unarched  gateway  in  the  mediaeval 
brick  walls,  and  a  sunny  piazza  just  inside  it,  from  which  the 
two  principal  streets  diverged  eastward.  The  more  north- 
ern of  these  was  the  Corso  Vitt.  Emanuele,  fairly  broad, 
paved  with  little  cobbles,  and  lined  with  two-  and  three- 
storied  stucco  buildings,  of  the  last  two  or  three  hundred 
years;  amongst  them,  on  the  left,  rose  one  larger  palace  of 
the  rococo  era,  containing  the  post  and  telegraph  offices.  But 
this  was  a  later  discovery ;  for  I  followed  now  the  other  street, 
Via  Garibaldi,  which  was  of  the  same  general  character, 
and  in  six  or  seven  minutes  reached  the  principal  inn,  upon 
its  left  side.  Though  the  best  the  city  could  boast,  this  was 
so  primitive,  that  I  should  not  advise  a  lady  to  plan  a  stay  of 
more  than  one  night.  They  have  not  been  accustomed  to 
foreigners  yet,  in  Lodi. 

Setting  out  northward,  a  block  or  two  brought  me  to 
the  central  Piazza  Maggiore,  at  the  end  of  Corso  Vitt. 
Emanuele, —  a  large,  treeless  square  surrounded  by  arcades, 
supported  mostly  upon  heavy  medieval  columns  with  crude 
capitals.  At  the  northern  angle  of  the  Corso  stood  an  ex- 
ception to  the  general  stucco  construction  of  the  buildings, — 
a  delightful  brick  palazzo  of  gothic  days,  with  graceful 
pointed  arches  of  that  material,  and  charming  pointed  win- 
dows overhead,  under  whose  ledges  ran  sections  of  a  beautiful 
trefoil  cornice  of  terracotta.  On  the  piazza's  eastern  side 
stood  the  Duomo  and  the  Municipio,  adjacent;  the  one 
large  and  ponderous,  surmounted  by  a  massive  tower,  the 
other  small  and  graceful;  the  one  of  dark,  rough  brick,  the 
other  of  light,  polished  stone;  the  one  in  severe  gothic  lines, 
the  other  in  pure  renaissance ;  as  different  therefore  from  each 
other  as  two  buildings  could  be. 

The    enormous   quadrangular    campanile    of    the    Duomo 


292  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

rose  upon  its  right  side,  occupying  nearly  a  third  of  the  fa- 
cade; it  bore  a  large  clock-face  at  mid-height,  and  was  prac- 
tically unperforated  as  far  as  the  incongruous  belfry  of 
double  rounded  arches.  The  single  doorway  was  shaded 
by  a  fine  gothic  porch,  whose  pointed  brick  archway  was  sus- 
tained by  slender  marble  columns  rising  from  dilapidated 
crouching  lions,  and  by  two  pairs  of  reed-like  three-quarter 
columns  with  romanesque  capitals  of  distorted  human  figures 
and  beasts,  quite  boldly  executed;  the  gable  of  the  arch  was 
adorned  with  a  handsome  arcaded  frieze  and  cornice  of 
terracotta;  the  doorway  was  recessed  six-fold,  in  gothic 
mouldings,  and  its  rounded  lunette  contained  a  quaint  early 
relief  of  the  Saviour,  the  Madonna,  and  S.  Bassanio,  the 
patron  of  the  church  and  of  the  city.  A  lifesize  gilded  statue 
of  the  Madonna  occupied  a  columned  niche  at  the  very  apex 
of  the  gabled  fagade.  Between  it  and  the  porch  opened 
a  fine  rose  window;  and  immediately  flanking  the  entrance, 
in  the  second  story,  opened  two  perfectly  renaissance  win- 
dows, in  amazing  contrast, —  each  consisting  of  two  arches 
upheld  by  elegant  and  very  slender  columns.  Besides  these 
there  were  a  number  of  unframed  apertures,  of  varying  size, 
wandering  sparsely  and  irregularly  about  the  vast  fagade, 
—  which  was  thus  a  strange  but  interesting  medley  of  the 
ages.  At  the  foot  of  the  tower  I  noticed  a  cinquecento 
fresco,  covered  with  wire,  representing  the  Madonna  and 
S.  Bassanio, —  once  evidently  quite  good,  but  now  irretriev- 
ably damaged.  And  upon  entering  the  edifice  I  observed 
two  other  saintly  figures,  standing  carved  upon  the  opposite 
jambs,  whose  elongated  primitiveness  showed  the  age  of  the 
building. 

The  spacious,  round-arched  nave  proved  to  have  been 
redecorated  in  the  baroque  style,  with  the  usual  reliefs  all 
over  the  side  arches,  and  gilding  upon  the  cornice,  the  capi- 


LODI  AND  CREMA  293 

tals,  and  the  panelled  pilasters  of  the  stuccoed  piers;  the 
bays  of  the  vaulting  were  painted  in  grey  designs  with  occa- 
sional oval  portraits  of  saints;  the  aisles,  similarly  decorated, 
were  raised  at  the  ends  beside  the  elevated  choir,  to  which 
central  steps  ascended,  between  others  descending  to  the  crypt. 
The  general  dimensions  of  the  edifice  were  good,  and  the 
duskiness  unusual.  Above  the  entrance  in  the  right  aisle  I 
noticed  a  fine  large  Assumption  of  the  Virgin,  well  and 
boldly  drawn,  and  skilfully  moulded,  by  Botassi  of  Milan;  it 
was  also  richly  toned  and  coloured,  and  the  figure  of  the 
Virgin,  borne  upward  by  lovely  angels  and  cherubim,  re- 
flected her  perfect  transport  of  soul,  while  the  Apostles  below 
were  depicted  with  much  fidelity.  It  is  a  most  remarkable 
work  for  the  decadent  period,  and  should  be  hung  in  a  better 
light. 

The  chapels  opened  from  the  right  aisle;  in  the  first  I 
saw  a  good  modern  fresco  of  the  Proclamation  of  the  Dogma 
of  the  Immaculate  Conception ;  in  the  second,  besides  a 
number  of  damaged  old  frescoes,  an  excellent  specimen  of 
the  frescoing  of  the  Campi,  of  Cremona,  representing  the 
Presentation  of  the  Virgin  at  the  Temple,  splendidly  carried 
out,  though  now  considerably  injured,  with  a  charming  figure 
of  the  child-Madonna;  in  the  third,  a  seicento  picture  of  S. 
Gaetano  at  the  feet  of  the  Madonna,  by  Lanzano,  and 
another  by  one  of  the  Milanese  Procaccini  representing  a 
dream  of  Pope  S.  Liberie  Over  the  stairs  in  the  right 
aisle  hung  a  large  canvas  of  the  final  conversation  of  Jesus 
with  the  Magdalen,  by  the  decadent  painter,  Cavaliere 
Trotti  of  Cremona,  called  II  Malosso, —  exceptionally  good 
for  his  period. 

The  crypt  I  found  also  to  be  modernised,  though  filled 
with  48  columns  in  several  rows,  with  altars  at  the  sides 
and  back.     Above  the  stairs  in  the  left  aisle  was  imbedded 


294  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

in  the  wall  the  very  extraordinary  relief  of  the  Last  Supper 
which  was  brought  from  the  Duomo  of  old  Lodi,  and  which 
must  therefore  have  been  executed  before  1158:  above  a 
broad,  even  strip  supposed  to  be  the  table,  sit  the  twelve 
archaic  figures  in  a  row,  with  the  thirteenth,  St.  John,  re- 
clining at  right  angles  on  the  Saviour's  breast;  their  faces 
are  wooden,  mere  caricatures  of  human  likeness,  with  the 
pupils  of  the  eyes  gouged  very  large,  and  a  few  straight  lines 
to  indicate  the  beards;  all  but  one  are  faced  directly  to  the 
front;  one  hand  of  each  is  extended  upon  the  table,  the 
other  crossed  upon  the  chest, —  except  as  to  the  Christ,  who 
is  embracing  St.  John  with  His  left  hand  and  blessing  with 
His  right;  His  head  and  body  are  made  considerably  larger 
than  the  others;  upon  the  board  at  intervals  are  carved  half- 
moon  bowls,  circular  plates,  loaves  of  bread,  goblets  and 
wine-bottles,  which  the  prostrate  hands  are  grasping  or  slic- 
ing. Executed  in  a  single  basaltic  stone,  not  larger  than  5 
feet  by  2  feet,  and  perfectly  preserved,  it  is  altogether  one 
of  the  most  curious  and  interesting  carvings  of  the  early 
Middle  Age;  especially  curious  also,  in  that  it  betrays  so 
little  affinity  to  the  Lombard  sculpture  of  the  same  period, — 
being  superior  to  them  in  design,  spirit,  and  dignity.  Above 
it  I  observed  the  accompanying  smaller  relief,  of  the  same 
epoch  and  kind  of  stone,  showing  the  standing  figures  of 
Sts.  Clement  and  Bassanio. 

Proceeding  finally  to  the  single  chapel  off  the  left  aisle,  I 
found  there  my  first  local  specimens  of  the  Lodi  Renaissance 
school  of  painting, —  two  splendid  polyptichs  by  Albertino 
and  Calisto  Piazza,  in  handsomely  carved  and  gilded  frames ; 
that  of  the  former  being  a  most  lovely  Madonna  in  glory, 
surrounded  by  little  angels,  with  God  the  Father  above,  and 
Sts.  Lucia  and  John  the  Baptist  on  either  hand;  that  of 
the  latter  being  a  Massacre  of  the  Innocents,  between  two 


LODI  AND  CREMA  295 

standing  saints,  below,  and  above  these  a  Madonna  with 
two  saints,  between  St.  George  killing  his  dragon  on  one 
hand  and  Sts.  Paul  and  Lawrence  upon  the  other.  All 
these  tableaux  were  alike  in  richness  of  tone  and  colour,  and 
many  of  the  figures  were  very  lifelike  as  well  as  graceful. 
They  showed  the  voluptuousness  of  form  acquired  by  Calisto 
during  his  association  with  Romanino  at  Brescia,  which  often 
causes  him  to  be  assigned  to  the  Brescian  school.  His  su- 
periority over  the  others  of  the  Piazza  family  may  therefore 
be  assigned  to  superior  advantages,  including  his  study  under 
Titian;  yet  Martino  and  Albertino,  though  of  the  previous 
generation,  occasionally  ran  him  closely, —  as  I  was  shortly 
to  see  again,  in  that  wonderful  temple  which  they  all  dec- 
orated for  Lodi,  the  church  of  the  Incoronata. 

Emerging  into  the  Piazza,  I  next  looked  at  the  adjacent 
Municipio,  whose  small  but  graceful  renaissance  fagade  con- 
sisted of  two  open  archways  below, —  through  the  right  one 
of  which  passed  a  narrow  street  to  the  rear  of  the  Duomo  — 
and  four  smaller  arches  above,  resting  on  coupled  granite 
columns  with  doric  caps,  and  connected  by  a  balustrade. 
Upon  the  angles  of  the  cornice  stood  two  sculptured  figures 
holding  shields  with  the  national  arms.  The  left  archway 
below  opened  into  a  long  loggia  extending  under  the  edifice, 
along  the  left  of  the  narrow  street;  and  its  arcade  there 
was  of  heavy,  pointed,  stucco  arches,  upheld  by  large  col- 
umns with  primitive  foliated  caps, —  evidently  a  much  earlier 
construction.  Within  it  I  found  busts  of  Cavour  and  Gari- 
baldi, and  marble  tablets  containing  the  names  of  the  sons 
of  Lodi  fallen  in  war. 

It  was  by  this  time  well  on  in  the  afternoon.  So  I  re- 
turned to  the  inn  for  a  late  and  hurried  lunch,  then  retraced 
my  steps  westward  on  Via  Garibaldi,  to  the  ancient  church 
of  S.  Lorenzo  upon  its  northern  side.     This  was  a  polished 


296  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

brick  edifice,  with  a  stuccoed  campanile,  and  several  pleasing 
terracotta  details  in  the  facade:  they  consisted  of  a  handsome 
circular  window-frame,  frieze,  and  cornice;  the  portal  was 
gracefully  rounded  in  brickwork,  with  a  ruined  cinquecento 
fresco  in  its  tympanum;  and  a  similar  damaged  fresco,  of 
the  Madonna  between  two  monks,  was  observable  at  the 
extreme  left.  The  interior  was  more  interesting:  the  low, 
short  nave  and  narrow  aisles,  separated  by  huge  columns 
with  romanesque  caps,  and  the  elevated  choir  flanked  by  lower 
continuations  of  the  aisles,  had  in  spite  of  renovations  many 
survivals  of  the  original,  quaint,  12th  century  structure. 
The  rounded  vaultings  with  their  ribbed  bays,  the  round 
arches  between  the  columns,  and  the  much  worn,  red-tiled 
pavement,  all  came  from  that  early  period  when  this  was 
one  of  the  few  churches  first  built  in  the  new  Lodi.  In  the 
quattrocento  it  had  been  frescoed  from  end  to  end;  as  was 
evidenced  by  the  primitive  Madonna  and  Child  lingering 
high  upon  the  left  wall,  and  the  excellent  group  of  the 
Madonna  with  angels  and  kneeling  devotees,  above  the  en- 
trance. 

Another  faded  quattrocento  work  occupied  the  first  altar 
to  left, —  located,  like  all  the  others,  in  a  shallow  recess; 
this  was  a  quaint  Adoration  of  the  Child,  by  the  Madonna, 
St.  Joseph,  and  the  shepherds.  In  the  following  recess,  by 
utter  contrast,  was  a  powerfully  painted  Pieta  of  the  Piazza 
school,  with  Sts.  Roch  and  Augustine  standing  by, —  the 
Madonna  and  the  dead  Christ  being  striking  figures.  The 
worst  of  the  renovation  had  been  perpetrated  in  the  choir- 
apse,  which  was  backed  with  an  appalling  row  of  painted 
plaster  statues  in  niches,  centred  by  a  vivid  blue  and  red 
Christ,  and  surrounded  to  the  vaulting  by  a  weird  and 
horrible  aggregation  of  stucco  reliefs,  beyond  mention;  the 
spirit  and  treatment  of  the  whole  thing  reminded  me  of 


LODI  AND  CREMA  297 

nothing  but  a  stuccoed  exedra  in  the  garden  of  a  decadent 
villa,  given  over  to  mythological  divinities.  It  was  worth 
seeing  as  a  curious  example  of  the  limits  of  the  baroque. 

Shortly  east  of  San  Lorenzo,  upon  a  side  street  running 
southward  from  Via  Garibaldi,  I  discovered  a  fascinating 
brick  and  terracotta  church  of  the  gothic  period, —  S.  Agnese. 
Its  fagade  was  truly  delightful:  the  doorway  was  beautiful 
with  cotta  mouldings,  and  a  charming  fresco  in  the  lunette 
of  St.  Agnes  caressing  her  lamb,  between  two  lustrous  an- 
gels; the  cotta  string-course  and  frieze  were  exquisitely 
wrought,  and  likewise  the  frames  of  the  two  pointed  win- 
dows, enclosed  at  their  peaks  in  cotta  plaques  of  variegated 
colours.  The  interior  was  unusual,  its  nave  and  aisles  being 
of  equal  height,  divided  by  plain  brick  columns  with  cotta 
capitals;  and  over  the  first  of  its  side-altars,  fixed  directly 
upon  the  wall,  glowed  a  brilliant  polyptich  by  Martino  and 
Albertino  Piazza,  in  a  fine  Renaissance  frame,  displaying  a 
Madonna  and  Child  beneath  God  the  Father,  surrounded 
by  several  saints.  It  was  a  richly  toned  and  coloured  canvas, 
with  figures  naturally  yet  charmingly  modelled  and  disposed, 
and  "  a  Madonna  of  almost  Raphaelesque  beauty  and 
grace.    a 

Having  still  an  hour  or  more  before  dinner-time,  I  re- 
turned to  Piazza  Maggiore,  and  wandered  from  it  through 
the  narrow  streets  to  the  eastward,  built  much  alike  with 
their  invariable  stuccoed  houses,  begrimed  more  or  less  ac- 
cording to  age.  I  investigated  the  churches,  finding  one  or 
two  of  antiquity,  but  nothing  worth  annotation ;  and  finally 
reached  the  bank  of  the  broad,  rushing  Adda,  spanned  by  a 
narrow  and  very  ordinary-looking  bridge,  with  naught  about 
it  to  hint  of  historical  importance.  Yet  over  it  had  oc- 
curred that  immemorial  charge,  a  century  ago,  which  was 

9  Layard's  "  Handbook  of  Painting." 


298  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

so  fateful  to  the  history  of  all  the  nations.  I  thought  how 
"  Bonaparte,  after  a  strife  of  artillery,  had  formed  that  close 
column  of  grenadiers  and  carbineers. — They  were  suddenly 
led  forward  into  the  hail  of  balls  and  grapeshot  from  20 
guns  which  poured  along  the  narrow  path.  In  vain  they 
strove. —  Seeing  them  waver,  Berthier,  Massena  and  others 
rushed  forward  to  lead  them.  Some  soldiers,  dropping  over 
the  bridge,  waded  through  the  shallows,  formed  a  line  of 
skirmishers,  and  strove  to  keep  down  the  fire  of  the  guns. 
Perseverance  and  enthusiasm  —  at  length  enabled  the  French 
to  triumph.  The  grenadiers,  with  noble  resolution,  passed 
the  fatal  defile  at  a  run,  dashed  upon  the  artillery,  and, 
aided  by  their  supports,  and  some  squadrons  of  horse  which 
had  forded  the  river,  routed  the  enemy."  10 

The  next  morning  I  was  free  to  devote  myself  to  Lodi's 
one  great  and  unique  building,  the  celebrated  church  of 
the  Madonna  Incoronata,  than  which  there  stands  no  temple 
more  lavishly  beautified  by  the  gentlest  brushes  of  the  Renais- 
sance. It  is  an  immortal  monument  to  the  charm  of  the 
Piazza  school  and  the  pietistic  genius  of  Borgognone.  The 
building  itself  is  an  exquisite,  graceful  structure,  for  which 
also  Lodi  must  be  given  the  credit :  since  it  was  erected  by  her 
authorities,  under  the  plan  and  original  superintendence  of 
her  own  son,  Giov.  Giacomo  Battaggia,  "  who  had  already 
worked  under  Bramante  at  the  building  of  S.  Satiro  in 
Milan." "  "  Later  Dolcebono  was  called  in,  and  took 
charge  till  the  completion,  about  1500.  "  A  notice  of  him, 
dated  1498, —  records  the  payment  of  the  painter  Ambrogio 
da  Fossano,  called  Borgognone,  for  the  decoration  of  the  apse 

i°  G.  Hooper's  "  Italian  Campaigns  of  Gen.  Bonaparte." 
"Lucca  Beltrami's   "Italian  Wall   Decoration  of  the   15th   and 

16th    Centuries."— Ricci    labels    this    building    the    "masterpiece    of 

Battaggia  and   Dolcebono." 


LODI  AND  CREMA  299 

of  the  high  altar."  lla     It  was  thus  a  construction  of  the  very 
perihelion  of  art,  under  its  most  talented  craftsmen. 

I  found  it  upon  the  western  side  of  the  street  leading 
north  from  the  facade  of  the  Municipio,  but  half  a  block, 
distant:  a  stuccoed  edifice  of  no  large  extent,  painted  in 
imitation  of  stone,  with  a  portico  of  three  broad  arches,  upon 
real  granite  columns  with  fanciful  caps,  and  six  smaller 
arches  overhead,  upon  stucco  piers  and  columns.  At  the  left 
end  of  the  portico  rose  a  brick  •campanile,  to  a  belfry  of 
double  arches  with  marble  shafts,  and  an  incongruous  brick 
spire;  beside  this  soared  the  huge,  central,  brick  drum, 
octagon-shaped,  surmounted  by  a  stucco  balustrade,  and 
pierced  by  small  circular  windows.  The  genuine  beauties 
were  reserved  for  the  inside,  in  true  Bramantesque  fashion; 
for  when  I  entered,  by  the  left  one  of  the  triple  portals 
beneath  the  arches, —  the  blaze,  the  sparkle,  the  coruscation 
of  infinite  and  glowing  hues,  that  showered  upon  me  from 
every  wall  and  angle  of  the  graceful  rotunda,  glistening  from 
coloured  marbles  and  lovely,  figured  canvases,  made  it  seem 
like  nothing  so  much  as  a  mighty  sunburst  of  precious  stones. 
Great  jewels  flashed  from  the  altars  around  the  walls,  lesser 
gems  from  the  corners  and  archways,  while  prismatic  neck- 
laces wound  over  frieze  and  cornice,  and  dangled  iridescent 
down  the  pilasters;  even  the  floor  was  brilliantly  maculated 
in  minute  patterns,  with  marbles  of  soft  tints  in  red  and 
cream  and  grey. 

Behind  this  play  of  colours  soared  the  harmonious  lines  of 
the  classic  structure, —  a  lofty,  domed  octagon  in  Bramante's 
familiar  style,  which  he  bequeathed  to  his  pupils:  small  in 
its  breadth  but  perfect  in  proportions ;  the  usual  eight  sweep- 
ing archways  surrounding  the  ground  story,  the  front  one 

"a  Lucca  Beltrami's  "Italian  Wall  Decoration  of  the  15th  and 
16th   Centuries." 


300  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

being  devoted  to  the  entrance  passage  and  the  rear  one  to  the 
choir;  the  second  story  being  adorned  with  a  succession  of 
symmetrical  round  arches,  two  on  each  side,  opening  into  a 
triforium  illumined  by  corresponding  windows,  and  both  un- 
derrun  and  surmounted  by  elaborate  cornices;  while  the  dome 
was  solidly  painted  with  gilt  arabesques  and  bright-hued 
tableaux,  terminating  in  a  little  lantern,  white  with  de- 
scending light.  The  recess  of  the  choir  extended  deeply  to 
an  apse,  behind  the  high  altar  placed  well  at  its  front.  Of 
the  three  main  archways  on  the  street  side,  two  contained 
entrances,  and  the  third, —  upon  the  right  —  opened  into 
the  sacristy  through  a  doorway  beneath  the  organ-loft.  The 
other  four  archways  were  occupied  by  altars,  laden  with 
and  surrounded  by  paintings.  Paintings  covered  the  wall- 
spaces,  the  recesses,  the  cornices,  and  the  tall  pilasters  rising 
to  support  the  latter.  And  the  prevailing  hue,  the  back- 
ground, of  this  luxuriant  frescoed  garden  —  the  very  tone 
of  the  series  of  canvases  flowering  in  its  beds  —  was  gold ; 
deep,  rich  gold,  that  showered  its  warmth  and  scintillated  its 
sparkling  rays  like  a  glory  of  tropic  sunshine.  Here,  if 
anywhere,  did  it  seem  as  if  man  had  betaken  himself  — 

"To  gild  refined  gold,  to  paint  the  lily  — 
To  smooth  the  ice,  and  add  another  hue 
Unto  the  rainbow." 

The  mouldings  running  around  the  large  arches  were 
gilded ;  the  faces  of  their  supports  and  the  intervening 
pilasters  were  embellished  either  with  gilded  arabesques,  or 
frescoed  putti  charmingly  interwoven  with  columns  of  vases, 
masks,  instruments,  etc. ;  the  capitals  were  gilded,  the  cornice 
above  them,  and  the  bosses  and  relieved  panels  decorating 
the  soffits  of  the  archways;  painted  panels  of  single  figures 
occupied  the  centres  of  the  ornate  relieved  pedestals;  and 
from  the  spandrels  looked  forth  larger  figures,  around  me- 


LODI  AND  CREMA  301 

dallions  with  projecting  busts  of  terracotta.  In  the  second 
story,  the  columns  and  mouldings  of  the  arcades  were  gilded, 
and  the  rich  cornice  above  them,  while  the  dividing  pilasters 
were  like  those  below,  in  their  alternation  of  frescoing  with 
gilded  arabesques.  It  is  true  that  this  adornment  was  alto- 
gether too  lavish;  but  the  frescoing  was  happy  in  its  effect, 
and  the  gilding  saved  from  cloying  by  its  clever  confinement 
to  raised  surfaces.  The  frescoes,  I  was  told,  were  the  work 
of  pupils  and  assistants  of  the  Piazza  school,  under  the  de- 
signing and  direction  of  the  masters;  which  accounted  for 
their  unusual  excellence,  and  the  pleasing  grace  of  many  of 
their  frolicking  putti. 

Taking  up  the  canvases, —  on  the  first  altar  to  left  glowed 
a  splendid  polyptych  by  Martino  Piazza,  the  father  of  Ca- 
listo:  a  Crucifixion  between  two  couples  of  saints,  and  below 
them  the  crowned  Madonna,  very  lovely  indeed,  with  two 
little  angels, —  S.  Mauro  standing  on  the  right  side,  a  strik- 
ing, noble  figure,  and  S.  Antonio  del  Campinello  standing  on 
the  left,  beside  one  of  the  Bellinzaghi  family  of  Milan  who 
ordered  this  picture.  Its  predella  showed  the  Saviour  with 
the  twelve  Apostles.  It  was  beautifully  toned  and  drawn, 
proving  Martino  to  have  been  the  possessor  of  real  pietistic 
genius, —  although,  according  to  Layard,  he  was  always  as- 
sisted by  his  brother.  Over  the  next  altar  Calisto  presided: 
there  was  a  large  central  canvas  of  the  Deposition,  of  mas- 
terly handling;  on  its  left  were  the  scenes  of  Jesus  being 
betrayed,  exquisitely  coloured,  and  the  Scourging,  with  a 
glorious  figure  of  the  Christ,  godlike  in  His  torture;  on 
the  right  were  Jesus  fallen  under  the  Cross,  and  being 
crucified, —  scenes  too  violent  and  crowded,  but  of  fine  tint- 
ing and  modelling.  On  the  back  of  the  high-altar  appeared 
an  enchanting  specimen  of  Martino's  brother,  Albertino:  a 
Coronation  of  the   Madonna,  amid  a  delightful  swarm  of 


302  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

angels.  This  is  so  utterly  different  from  Martino's  style, 
that  it  does  not  seem  possible  that  he  could  have  collaborated 
upon  it,  in  spite  of  the  belief  of  their  always  working  to- 
gether.— The  seicento  walnut  choir-stalls  were  most  richly 
carved,  with  many  cherubs  and  other  figures,  saintly  busts, 
and  countless  variegated  designs.  The  bronze  railing  before 
the  altar  was  also  a  fine  work. 

On  the  right  side,  the  second  altar  was  also  decorated  by 
Calisto:  in  the  centre,  a  large  canvas  of  the  Beheading  of 
John  the  Baptist,  unfortunately  much  faded ;  at  the  left,  his 
birth,  and  his  baptism  of  Jesus, —  in  the  latter  of  which  he 
stands  a  remarkable,  holy  ascetic,  inspired  and  glorified  by 
the  magnitude  of  his  task ;  at  the  right,  his  preaching  before 
Herod  and  the  people,  realistic  yet  of  much  charm,  and  the 
bringing  of  his  head  to  the  King,  by  a  handsome,  buxom 
Salome,  in  whom  there  was  none  of  the  proper  passion  and 
smouldering  fire.  Want  of  depth,  of  expression  and  of  feel- 
ing, may  in  fact  be  said  to  constitute  the  point  where  the 
Piazza  family  all  failed  in  attaining  greatness;  if  they  tried 
too  hard,  they  descended  into  violence.  Nevertheless  their 
work  here  is  ravishingly  beautiful,  and  little  to  be  surpassed 
anywhere  amongst  the  tableaux  of  pietistic  repose.  Those 
by  Calisto  display  the  grandeur  of  colouring  which  he  learned 
in  the  school  of  Titian ;  so  much  so  that  Lanzi,  who  calls  him 
one  of  the  best  of  that  master's  disciples,  relates  a  report, 
which  still  is  current  in  Lodi,  "  that  Titian,  in  passing 
through  Lodi,  produced  several  heads;  —  probably  only  a 
story  originating  in  the  exceeding  beauty  that  may  be  ob- 
served in  some."  12 

Over  the  first  altar  to  right,  centered  by  a  final  effort  of 
Calisto,  a  much-faded  Conversion  of  St.  Paul,  stood  the  four 
magnificent  pictures  by  Borgognone, —  marvellous  works,  car- 

12  Lanzi's  "  History  of  Painting,"  Vol.  II. 


LODI  AND  CREMA  303 

rying  instantly  to  the  mind  the  impression  of  a  genius  more 
profound  than  his  confreres  of  Lodi.  At  the  left,  above,  was 
a  most  exquisite  Annunciation,  with  figures  of  wondrous 
beauty  of  moulding,  grace,  and  fleshwork,  invested  with 
tenderest  feeling,  posed  in  a  dusky,  handsome  chamber,  of 
coffered  ceiling  and  tessellated  floor,  whose  perspective  led, 
with  striking  effect,  through  a  double  archway  into  an  inner 
court  dazzling  with  summer  sunshine.  I  could  fairly  hear 
the  flies  buzzing  between  its  walls.  This  is  one  of  the  rare 
paintings  that  give  pleasure  quite  unalloyed.  Below  it  hung 
the  Adoration  of  the  Magi;  and  at  the  right  side  of  the 
altar,  the  Visitation,  and  the  Presentation  of  Jesus  at  the 
Temple:  all  superb  accomplishments,  remarkable  for  their 
pietistic  expression,  as  well  as  their  great  beauty  of  form 
and  colour.  In  the  background  of  the  latter  was  shown  this 
very  church,  with  extraordinary  precision  and  perspective. 

These  four  paintings  were  far  superior  to  the  works  of 
Borgognone  which  I  had  last  seen, —  his  decorations  in  the 
Certosa,  which  also  he  executed  at  an  early  age,  (excepting,  of 
course,  his  masterpiece  of  the  Crucifixion)  — and  stood  pre- 
eminent even  when  compared  with  his  exquisite  canvases 
that  I  had  studied  at  Bergamo.  Here  I  discerned  the  master 
not  yet  advanced  in  years,  who  had  thought,  and  laboured, 
had  suffered  life's  buffetings,  and  learned  the  great  lesson 
of  religious  consolation ;  above  all,  the  master  who  had  gone 
to  Milan,  and  sat  at  the  feet  of  the  mighty  Leonardo,  in 
those  years  closing  the  Moro's  brilliant  reign.  As  Bel- 
trami put  it:  "  His  style  was  modified  by  his  study  of  the 
work  of  Leonardo ;  the  paintings  at  Lodi  especially  exemplify 
this  fact."  13  They  show  the  influence  in  the  gentle  grace- 
fulness of  their  forms,   and   the  delicate  loveliness  of  their 

13  Beltrami's  "Italian  Wall  Decoration  of  the  15th  and  16th  Cen- 
turies." 


304  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

heads;  which  more  than  warrant  Beltrami's  rating  of  their 
author,  as  "  one  of  the  most  distinguished  painters  of  devo- 
tional subjects  of  the  Lombard  school."  Layard  wrote: 
"  Borgognone  appears  to  have  been  a  man  of  a  deeply  re- 
ligious nature,  and  his  works  are  so  exclusively  religious 
that  he  has  been  called  the  Fra  Angelico  of  the  Lombard 
school. — Among  his  principal  works  in  his  first  or  silvery 
manner,  may  be  mentioned  —  four  beautiful  predella  pictures 
in  the  church  of  the  Incoronata  at  Lodi,  which  have  much 
of  the  sweetness  of  Leonardo  da  Vinci  and  Luini. —  Mar- 
tino  Piazza  was  under  the  influence  of  Borgognone ;  and  was 
more  conventional  in  his  works  than  his  younger  brother, 
Albertino,  who  was  thoroughly  Lombardesque.  Their  prin- 
cipal and  conjointly  executed  works  are  at  Lodi."  14 

The  next  archway  was  that  filled  by  the  organ-loft  over- 
head, with  the  doorway  to  the  sacristy  below;  the  front 
of  the  loft-railing  was  delightfully  carved  into  tasteful  ara- 
besques; upon  the  outside  of  the  organ-blinds  were  two 
striking  full-length  figures  of  Sts.  Alberto  and  Bassiano, 
draped  in  richly  embroidered  robes,  by  the  brothers  Chiesa, 
of  the  school  of  Luini;  and  upon  the  inside,  Sts.  Catherine 
and  Mary  Magdalen  by  the  same.  Underneath,  at  the 
sides  of  the  doorway,  hung  two  fine  old  pictures  of  unknown 
authorship:  a  canvas  of  the  Pieta,  half-length,  upon  black 
ground,  with  two  round-faced  angels  supporting  the  Saviour, 
all  exceedingly  well  modelled ;  and  a  cinquecento  detached 
fresco  of  the  Madonna  and  Child.  Over  the  main  entrance- 
doorway  I  observed  one  more  Calisto, —  an  Adoration  of  the 
Magi,  finely  spaced  and  composed,  in  his  usual  warm  tone 
and  colouring,  with  a  background  of  ruined  building  and 
sunset  after-glow;  and  at  its  sides  were  four  poorer  works, 
scenes  from  the  Old  Testament,  by  his  son  Fulvio.     Beside 

14  Layard's  "  Handbook  of  Painting." 


lOdi  and  CREMA  305 

the  left-hand  ingress,  finally, —  by  which  I  had  entered, — 
hung  two  more  cinquecento  paintings  of  unknown  author- 
ship, both  frescoes:  a  Madonna  with  two  saints  and  a  devotee, 
and  a  very  beautiful,  solitary  Madonna  and  Child. 

On  finishing  my  inspection  of  this  memorable  and  gem- 
like edifice,  I  proceeded  slightly  farther  north  upon  the 
same  street,  and  taking  the  first  turning  to  the  left,  followed 
it  to  the  western  ramparts  of  the  city,  not  far  distant. 
There  I  found  myself  50  feet  above  the  exterior  countryside, 
which  stretched  away  smiling  with  freshly  green  meadows, 
beautified  by  clumps  of  stately  willows  and  long  lines  of 
pointed  poplars, — pasturage  for  the  numerous  herds  of  milch 
cows.  To  the  north  and  southwest  I  saw  the  tall,  brick 
city-wall  extending,  along  the  top  of  a  high  embankment, 
backed  within  by  closely  packed  white  houses  and  verdant 
gardens;  in  the  latter  direction  a  pleasant  promenade  was 
also  visible,  along  the  parapet,  making  a  charming  walk 
for  the  sunsets  of  summer  evenings;  and  at  its  extreme  end 
soared  a  mighty,  round,  mediaeval,  brick  tower,  its  bulging 
top  with  heavy  machicolations  raised  far  into  the  blue, —  the 
guard-tower  of  the  great  western  bastion.  How  vividly  it 
brought  back,  as  of  yesterday,  that  fierce  and  terrible  time 
of  its  erection,  when  Frederick  Barbarossa  encouraged  the 
militia  at  their  task,  and  prepared  for  the  downfall  of 
Milan. 

In  order  to  reach  the  ancient  Lodi  which  had  just  then 
been  destroyed,  I  was  obliged  that  afternoon  to  pass  near 
this  huge  tower,  and  drive  four  miles  beyond  it,  across  these 
wide-stretching  grassy  meadows,  so  like  an  English  park. 
But  the  little  village  which  today  stands  on  the  old  site,  was 
hardly  worth  the  journey.  Amongst  its  stuccoed  houses  are 
observable  a  few  fragments  surviving  from  the  Roman  city, 
mostly  built  into  the  present  walls, —  columns,  broken  capi- 


306  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

tals,  bits  of  entablature,  etc.;  and  there  are  two  mediaeval 
churches,  S.  Bassiano  and  S.  Pietro,  the  former  of  which 
is  exceptional  in  that  it  is  built  of  unplastered  brick,  with 
some  pretensions  to  style.  Both  of  them  contain  series  of 
quattrocento  frescoes,  more  or  less  dilapidated  and  quaint 
in  their  effect,  but  of  no  special  value. 

The  town  of  Melegnano  (formerly  Marignano)  is  an- 
other near-by  historic  place,  with  no  memorials  of  its  own 
importance.  It  lies  about  9  miles  to  the  northwest,  halfway 
to  Milan.  There  it  was,  on  Sept.  13th  and  14th,  1515,  that 
Francis  I  inflicted  upon  the  Swiss  mercenaries  of  Maximilian 
Sforza,  then  reigning,  that  disastrous  and  crushing  defeat 
called  the  Battle  of  the  Giants,  which  resulted  in  the  latter's 
dethronement.  No  battle  for  centuries  had  been  so  bloody 
in  Italy;  6,000  French  and  12,000  Swiss  lost  their  lives.  The 
remainder  of  the  latter  promptly  abandoned  the  Duke  and  his 
territory,  and  the  French  conquest  of  Lombardy  followed. 
Francis  is  said  to  have  fought  like  a  hero;  and  accordingly, 
the  next  day,  received  at  his  own  request  the  order  of 
knighthood,  from  the  renowned  Chevalier  Bayard,  who  was 
in  his  army.  Again,  on  June  8th,  1859,  the  French  won 
an  important  victory  on  the  same  field,  this  time  against  the 
Austrians;  which  materially  contributed  to  the  freedom  of 
Italy.  Nothing  however  remains  in  the  village  from  these 
great  events.  But  its  parish  church  contains  one  of  Bor- 
gognone's  beautiful  altar-pieces,  representing  the  baptism  of 
Christ. 

The  railroad  which  traverses  Melegnano,  Lodi,  and  Cas- 
alpusterlengo,  is  an  important  main  line,  going  on  to 
Piacenza,  Parma  and  Bologna.  But  to  convey  one  from 
Lodi  to  Crema,  a  dozen  miles  east  of  the '  Adda,  there  is 
only  a  cross-country  steam  tramway, —  the  continuation  of 
that  from  S.  Angelo  Lodigiano.     I  found  the  station  of  this, 


LODI  AND  CREMA  307 

when  I  departed  the  second  morning,  located  on  the  north 
side  of  the  city,  just  without  the  walls.  The  train  consisted 
of  a  diminutive  locomotive  and  a  couple  of  little  old  rickety 
cars.  Crawling  around  the  ramparts,  and  across  the  river,  it 
followed  the  eastern  highway,  at  a  rate  of  about  10  miles 
per  hour;  but  even  this  speed  produced  such  a  rolling  and 
tossing  as  to  threaten  a  frequent  departure  from  the  rails. 
As  we  stopped  also  at  every  aggregation  of  3  or  4  houses,  our 
advance  was  not  rapid,  and  I  had  plenty  of  time  to  observe 
the  beautiful  country  before  the  noon  hour  brought  us  finally 
to  Crema. 

With  Crema  I  was  once  more  entering  Venetian  territory, 
acquired  by  the  Queen  of  the  Sea  when  Francesco  Sforza 
acceded  to  the  dukedom  of  Milan;  but  before  that  the  little 
city  had  belonged  to  the  Visconti,  during  the  most  of  their 
tyranny.  Crema  is  a  place  today  of  about  10,000  inhab- 
itants; and  probably  was  never  greater  than  twice  that  size, 
although  she  managed  to  keep  herself  in  the  front  rank  of 
fighting  during  the  struggles  of  the  early  Middle  Ages.  She 
had,  it  is  evident,  a  fiery,  combative  spirit,  which  proved  her 
undoing;  for,  like  Lodi,  she  was  entirely  destroyed  in  the 
1 2th  century,  so  that  the  present  town  is  the  product  of  the 
later  ages.  Unlike  Lodi,  with  whom  she  waged  from  the 
earliest  epoch  a  constant  neighbourly  strife,  Crema  belonged 
to  the  Guelf  party  headed  by  Milan ;  to  that  faction  she  was 
constant  to  the  end,  and  clearly  enthusiastic,  for  her  militia 
were  found  to  the  front  in  every  struggle  with  the  imperial- 
ists during  the  nth  and  I2th  centuries.  We  can  imagine 
the  glee  with  which  she  assisted  the  Milanese  in  destroying 
her  ancient  rival,  Lodi. 

But  retribution  was  not  long  in  coming.  Frederick  Bar- 
barossa,  after  rebuilding  Lodi,  became  so  incensed  at  the  aid 
always  rendered  by  Crema  to  the  great  rebel,  Milan,  that 


308  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

in  July,  1 159,  he  commanded  the  little  city's  destruction. 
Said  Sismondi:  "The  people  of  Crema  had  remained  faith- 
ful to  the  Milanese  in  their  good  and  evil  fortune;  but 
the  siege  of  that  town  presented  fewer  difficulties  to  the 
Emperor  than  the  siege  of  Milan.  Crema  was  of  small 
extent,  and  could  be  invested  on  every  side;  it  was  also  more 
accessible  to  the  engines  of  war,  though  surrounded  by  a 
double  wall  and  a  ditch  filled  with  water.  The  Cremonese 
began  the  siege  on  the  4th  of  July;  and  on  the  10th,  Fred- 
erick arrived  to  direct  it  in  person.  Four  hundred  Milanese 
had  thrown  themselves  into  the  town,  to  partake  the  combats 
and  dangers  of  their  allies.  The  Emperor,  who  regarded 
the  besieged  only  as  revolted  subjects,  sought  to  terrify  them 
by  the  spectacle  of  punishments.  Hostages  had  been  sent  to 
him  by  Milan  and  Crema  (on  the  occasion  of  the  temporary 
peace  agreed  to  in  1158)  ;  he  ordered  several  of  them  to  be 
hung  before  the  walls  of  the  town.  Some  were  children  of 
the  most  distinguished  families:  he  caused  them  to  be  bound 
to  a  moving  tower,  which  was  brought  so  close  to  the  attack 
that  the  besieged  could  not  repel  it  without  killing  or 
wounding  their  own  children.  A  cry  of  despair  resounded 
along  the  walls  of  Crema.  The  wretched  parents  implored 
death  from  their  fellow-citizens,  to  escape  witnessing  the 
agony  of  their  children,  and  at  the  same  time  cried  out  to 
their  children  not  to  fear  giving  up  their  lives  for  their  coun- 
try. The  battle,  in  fact,  was  not  interrupted;  and  the 
moving  tower  was  repelled,  after  nine  of  the  young  hostages 
who  covered  it  with  their  bodies  had  been  killed.  During 
six  entire  months  did  the  small  town  of  Crema  resist  the 
whole  army  of  the  Emperor.  Famine  at  length  accom- 
plished what  force  could  not;  and  on  the  26th  of  January, 
1 1 60,  the  heroic  inhabitants  capitulated,  abandoning  their 
wealth    to   pillage,    and    their   houses    to    the    flames.     For 


LODI  AND  CREMA  309 

themselves,    wasted   by    famine    and    fatigue,    they   obtained 
permission  to  withdraw  to  Milan."  15 

Thus  occurred  the  second  greatest  tragedy  of  the  Lombard 
Middle  Age,  and  of  the  long  warfare  between  Guelf  and 
Ghibelline, —  only  the  destruction  of  Milan  surpassing  it 
in  pathos  and  suffering.  Thus  did  little  Crema  become  one 
of  the  first  martyrs  in  the  long  roll  for  the  freedom  and 
independence  of  Italy.  And  her  people,  after  withdrawing 
to  Milan,  had  immediately  to  go  through  again  the  wretched 
horror  of  siege  and  demolition.  The  remnant  then  returned 
to  the  old  site,  and  assisted  by  the  neighbouring  Guelf  towns, 
began  the  work  of  rebuilding;  this  was  accomplished  without 
interruption,  thanks  to  the  wave  of  feeling  that  now  swept 
over  the  whole  plain,  and  that  resulted  in  the  formation  of 
the  League  of  Lombardy.  From  the  ground  on  which  they 
stood  the  Cremesi  found  the  material  for  their  structures. 
"  What  the  marble  quarries  of  Pentelicus  were  to  the  Athe- 
nian builders,  the  clay  beneath  their  feet  was  to  the  Lombard 
craftsmen.  From  it  they  fashioned  structures  as  enduring, 
towers  as  majestic,  and  cathedral-aisles  as  solemn,  as  ever 
were  wrought  from  chiselled  stone.  There  is  a  true  sym- 
pathy between  these  buildings  and  the  Lombard  landscape, 
which  by  itself  might  suffice  to  prove  the  originality  of  their 
almost  unknown  architects. —  Of  all  these  Lombard  edifices, 
— none  is  more  beautiful  than  the  Cathedral  of  Crema.16 
So,  with  this  simple  material,  the  people  not  only  rebuilt  their 
city,  but  did  it  so  artistically  as  to  produce  some  of  the  most 
delightful  structures  of  all  Lombardy. 

It  was  at  Cortenuova,  close  to  the  new  walls  of  Crema, 
that  Emperor  Frederick  II  in  1237  inflicted  a  terrible  defeat 
upon  the  Guelfs  headed  by  Milan,  slaying  over  10,000  and 

15  Sismondi's   "  Italian  Republics." 

16  J.  A.  Symonds'  "  Sketches  and  Studies  in  Italy." 


3io  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

dispersing  the  remainder.  But  the  Cremesi  were  not  now 
amongst  them;  either  they  had  learned  a  lesson,  or  their 
combative  power  and  spirit  had  not  returned.  They  were, 
doubtless,  a  prey  to  the  internecine  strife  of  Guelf  and 
Ghibelline ;  for,  between  the  time  of  Frederick  and  the  com- 
ing of  Henry  VII  in  1310,  like  every  other  Lombard  city, 
Crema  fell  into  the  hands  of  a  family  of  nobles  who  took 
advantage  of  the  strife  to  make  themselves  despots.  In  her 
case  it  was  the  family  of  the  Benzoni.  But  their  despotism 
did  not  long  continue;  for  in  the  early  years  of  the  14th  cen- 
tury the  city  was  conquered  and  annexed  by  the  Visconti, 
either  by  Matteo  il  Grande  or  his  grandson  Azzo, —  proba- 
bly the  latter. 

"  So  are  the   Italian  cities  all  o'erthronged 
With  tyrants,  and  a  great  Marcellus  made 
Of  every  petty,  factious  villager."  17 

From  this  time  Crema  continued  steadily  in  the  power  of 
the  Visconti,  and  governed  by  their  appointees,  until  the 
death  of  Filippo  Maria,  the  last  of  his  line.  The  city  suf- 
fered considerable  disturbance  after  the  death  of  his  father 
Gian  Galeazzo,  owing  to  its  being  taken  possession  of  and 
fortified  by  Gabriello,  a  bastard  son  of  the  latter ;  but  Filippo 
soon  ousted  his  half-brother  by  force, —  which  had  its  usual 
ill  consequences  to  the  people.  In  1449,  however,  Francesco 
Sforza  turned  over  Crema,  of  which  he  had  taken  forcible 
possession  in  September  of  that  year,  to  the  Venetian  Republic, 
as  a  part  of  the  consideration  for  the  latter's  support  to  his 
pretensions  to  the  duchy  of  Milan;  and  from  the  day  the 
Venetian  lion  was  raised  in  the  central  piazza,  the  city 
secured  almost  uninterrupted  peace  and  prosperity. 

In  the  revival  of  art  Crema  developed  no  school  of  her 

17  Dante's  Purgatory,  canto  VI ;  Cary's  Trans. 


LODI  AND  CREMA  3" 

own;  but  she  gave  birth  to  several  eminent  painters,  the 
chief  of  whom  was  the  great  Vincenzo  Civerchio, —  whose 
work  I  had  last  met  with  at  Brescia  and  Bergamo.  He 
belonged  properly  to  the  Venetian  school,  and  passed  a  large 
part  of  his  life  at  Milan,  where  "  he  educated  several  ex- 
cellent pupils  for  that  school,  and  with  the  exception  of 
Vinci,  is  the  best  entitled  of  any  master  to  its  gratitude."  18 
Yet  he  also  resided  to  some  extent  at  his  native  place,  adorn- 
ing its  churches  with  his  beautiful  pictures;  amongst  which 
half  a  dozen  were  still  to  be  seen  as  late  as  two  score  years 
ago.  All  are  dispersed  today,  except  his  masterpiece  in  the 
Duomo.  An  authentic  story  is  related,  that  when  the  French 
seized  Crema  in  their  conquest  of  Lombardy,  so  delighted 
were  the  officers  with  one  of  Civerchio's  paintings  then  hang- 
ing in  the  Municipio,  that  they  sent  it  by  a  special  messenger 
to  their  sovereign,  Francis  I.  Of  the  other  native  artists, 
the  principal  were  Giov.  da  Monte,  a  pupil  of  Titian,  and 
Carlo  Urbini,  of  the  decadent  period;  both  of  whom  lived 
and  laboured  mostly  at  Milan. 

As  my  rickety  little  train  approached  the  city,  we  traversed 
the  suburban  village  of  Ombriano,  about  a  mile  from  the 
western  gate,  passing  before  the  splendid  renaissance  palace, 
set  amongst  charming  grounds,  which  forms  the  residence  of 
the  prominent  Senator  Rossi.  After  a  stop  near  that  gate, 
we  crawled  in  a  semicircle  around  the  southern  walls,  coming 
to  a  final  rest  on  the  eastern  side.  There  the  tall  brick 
ramparts,  still  in  excellent  preservation,  were  pierced  by  a 
large  stuccoed  gateway  of  the  Renaissance  period, —  the 
Porta  Serio,  decadent  in  style,  with  a  couple  of  statues  sur- 
mounting its  cornice.  From  it  extended  a  pleasant  modern 
park,  on  the  site  of  a  section  of  the  outer  wall  and  moat, 
northward    under    avenues    of    shade-trees,    to    the    railroad 

18  Lanzi's  "  History  of  Painting,"  Vol.  II. 


3i2  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

station  at  the  town's  northeastern  corner:  a  station  on  the 
branch  line  from  Cremona  to  Treviglio  and  Bergamo. 

Immediately  within  the  gateway  opened  the  Piazza  Gari- 
baldi, with  a  standing  marble  statue  of  that  patriot  in  its  cen- 
tre; there  the  inner  fagade  of  Porta  Serio  loomed  majestically 
upon  two  rusticated  piers  and  two  enormous  ionic  columns, 
with  its  heavy  cornice  crowned  by  four  corresponding  statues 
of  heroes  in  ancient  Roman  garb;  and  thence  the  main 
thoroughfare,  Via  Mazzini,  led  me  directly  westward  be- 
tween plain  stuccoed  buildings,  two  to  five  centuries  in  age. 
It  was  about  30  feet  in  width,  paved  with  small  cobbles,  and 
lined  at  the  sides  by  narrow  flagged  walks,  as  well  as  paths 
for  the  omnipresent  bicycles  that  today  crowd  the  streets  of 
every  Italian  plain-town.  Straight  ahead  at  the  end  loomed 
a  lofty  brick  tower  of  graceful  design, —  the  famous  campanile 
of  the  Duomo.  I  soon  reached  the  city's  centre,  at  the  in- 
tersection of  the  chief  north  and  south  thoroughfare,  Via 
Vittorio  Emanuele;  beyond  which  my  way  widened  into 
the  piazza  of  the  Duomo,  aged  and  picturesque,  stretching 
along  the  southern  side  of  the  mighty  edifice. 

The  building  from  this  view-point  was  a  mountain  of 
yellow  brick,  its  nave  higher  than  the  aisles,  the  straight 
wall  of  the  latter  pierced  by  curious  fan-shaped  windows 
just  under  the  arcaded  terracotta  cornice;  midway  it  held 
a  rectangular  portal,  in  a  baroque,  stucco  frame  of  later 
date;  heavy  buttresses  projected  from  its  lower  roof  to  sus- 
tain the  wall  of  the  nave,  which  was  broken  by  round-arched 
clerestory  windows,  and  decorated  with  a  beautiful  gothic 
arcaded  frieze,  upon  innumerable,  baseless  little  columns. 
At  the  farther  end  towered  the  huge  facade,  westward  turned, 
twice  the  height  of  the  lower  roof,  as  to  which  it  formed  one 
of  those  pompous  shams  so  distasteful  to  the  late  Mr.  Street. 
At  the  nearer  end  — looking  from  the  southeastern  corner  — 


LODI  AND  CREMA  31 3 

soared  the  superb  bell-tower  far  into  the  sky,  tier  upon  tier  of 
lovely  windows  and  colonnades, —  a  magnificent,  inspiring 
spectacle. 

Now  I  could  understand  the  fame  of  this  tower,  as  one 
of  the  greatest  Lombard  creations  in  brick  and  terracotta. 
Symonds  was  justly  enthusiastic  over  this  "  delicately  fin- 
ished campanile,  built  of  choicely  tinted  yellow  bricks,  and 
ending  in  a  lantern  of  the  gracefullest,  most  airily  capricious 
fancy. —  It  has  a  character  of  elegance,  combined  with  the 
boldness  of  invention,  that  justifies  the  citizens  of  Crema 
in  their  pride.  It  is  unique;  and  he  who  has  not  seen  it 
does  not  know  the  whole  resources  of  the  Lombard  style.19 
Square  in  shape  till  near  the  top,  subdivided  by  charming 
arcaded  cornices,  pointed  or  interwoven,  of  gleaming  red 
terracotta,  no  window  breaks  it  until  the  fifth  division,  where 
there  appear  two  upon  each  side,  round-arched  and  prettily 
recessed  with  brick  mouldings;  while  the  sixth  stage,  or 
belfry,  is  adorned  with  triple  arches  resting  on  glistening 
marble  shafts,  crowned  by  a  broad  interwoven  frieze  of 
contrasting  crimson.  From  its  heavy  cornice  rises  a  parapet 
made  of  four  cylindrical  pinnacles  on  each  side,  connected 
by  low  arches;  within  which  soars  the  octagonal  upper 
tower,  two  stages  in  height,  the  second  consisting  of  an 
exquisite  marble  colonnade,  supporting  two  little  round 
arches  per  side.  Above  this,  the  crimson  frieze,  heavy  cornice, 
and  pinnacled  parapet  are  deftly  repeated,  with  striking 
effect,  and  the  tower  merges  into  a  conical  red  spire,  with 
a  far,  truncated  summit.  This  most  clever  intermixture  of 
the  three  materials  and  colours,  causes  each  to  embellish  and 
bring  out  the  line-harmonies  of  the  others,  with  an  effect  in 
the  ensemble  too  enchanting  to  be  well  described. 

The    old    piazza    upon    which    this    campanile    looks    is 
19  J.  A.  Symonds'  "  Sketches  and   Studies  in  Italy." 


3i4  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

an  excellent  setting  for  its  picturesqueness ;  mediaeval  too, 
in  its  long  colonnade  of  worn,  granite  shafts  upholding  the 
row  of  ancient  buildings  along  the  southern  side,  upon  whose 
shady  corridor  open  quaint  little  dusky  shops  and  table- 
exuding  cafes.  At  the  western  end  rose  a  tall  ornate  stuc- 
coed archway,  of  the  Renaissance  period,  topped  with  two 
solid  stories,  under  which  the  street  made  exit  in  that  direc- 
tion; the  top  story  consisted  of  a  large  square  clock-face, 
flanked  by  a  couple  of  statues  in  niches,  and  surmounted  by 
an  airy  cupola.  This  was  the  clock-tower  of  the  city.  It 
was  sandwiched  closely  between  other  arcaded  buildings, 
old  and  stuccoed,  which  continued  the  colonnade  before  the 
face  of  the  Cathedral. 

Here  there  opened,  I  found,  a  deep  northern  bay  from  the 
piazza,  upon  which  the  Duomo  looked,  and  along  whose  left 
side  extended  a  large  palace,  with  handsome  cotta  mouldings 
and  cornice  to  its  arcade,  and  a  series  of  fine  renaissance 
windows  overhead,  round-arched  upon  stone  columns.  At 
the  end  rose  the  Palazzo  Municipale,  with  a  heavy  square 
tower,  upon  whose  stuccoed  face  lingered  still,  to  my  delight, 
the  old  familiar  relief  of  the  Venetian  Lion,  beneath  some 
remains  of  frescoing  that  once  represented  a  dial  surrounded 
by  human  figures.  Here  also,  just  upon  the  Duomo's  left, 
stood  the  contiguous  Palazzo  Vescovile,  with  the  same 
ground  arcade  adorned  with  cotta  mouldings.  Under  the 
arcade  of  the  Municipio  I  observed  a  number  of  busts  to 
Crema's  chief  heroes  of  the  past,  and  a  tablet  to  her  fallen 
soldiers ;  its  first  floor  was  reached  by  a  quaint  outer  stair- 
way, leading  from  a  narrow  street  that  departed  under  the 
building.  But  these  observations  were  subsequent ;  for 
dwarfing  everything  else  in  this  portion  of  the  piazza,  and 
demanding  instant  attention  when  I  entered  it,  was  the  vast, 


LODI  AND  CREMA  315 

imposing  fagade  of  the  Cathedral,  the  corollary  of  its  bell- 
tower  in  beauty  and  interest. 

Here  again  was  the  body  of  warm  yellow  brick,  with 
decorative  details  of  terracotta  and  marble.  The  latter  ele- 
ment was  used  for  the  gothic  portal,  the  handsome  rose- 
window,  and  the  level  Lombard  colonnade,  characteristic  but 
exceptionally  rich,  that  extended  its  hundred  glistening  col- 
umns beneath  the  cornice  of  the  flat  gable ;  these  were  fully  six 
feet  in  height,  and  placed  about  one  and  a  half  feet  apart, 
with  crude  foliated  caps,  very  small  bases,  and  curious  cu- 
bical abacuses,  the  like  of  which  I  remember  nowhere  else; 
they  supported  little  rounded  brick  arches,  and  stood  in  a 
long  recess,  which  thus  formed  a  shallow  gallery.  Beneath 
their  projecting  basic  ledge,  and  again  above  them,  just  under 
the  slight  cornice,  stretched  two  splendid  friezes  of  crimson 
terracotta,  of  interwoven  arcades,  glowing  the  more  richly 
by  contrast  with  the  marble  colonnade.  Below  this  fascin- 
ating crown  of  the  fagade,  three  great  recessed  arches  ex- 
tended from  one  corner  buttress  to  the  other,  framed  in  nu- 
merous cotta  mouldings,  supported  in  the  middle  by  two 
lofty  half-columns  of  brick;  in  this  unusual  manner  the 
front  was  divided  into  three  compartments,  of  which  the 
central  was  considerably  the  wider. 

This  central  compartment  held  the  single  doorway,  which 
though  round-arched  was  gothic  in  design,  deeply  recessed  be- 
tween clustered  slender  shafts  with  typical  gothic  capitals; 
in  the  tympanum  stood  three  antique  statuettes,  of  the  Ma- 
donna between  two  saints.  Well  above  it  hung  the  beautiful 
rose-window,  also  of  marble,  with  its  airy  tracery  of  St. 
Catherine's  wheel ;  and  over  that  again,  in  the  lunette  of  the 
middle  compartment,  a  double-arched  gothic  window  in  an 
exquisite  terracotta  frame.     The  windows  in  the  side  divi- 


316  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

sions  were  much  like  the  last:  the  two  lower  being  round- 
arched  and  recessed  six-fold,  the  two  upper  being  pointed,  and 
enclosed  by  rows  of  fancy  plaques;  all  four  were  superb 
examples  of  the  finest  cotta  decoration.  The  last  pair  men- 
tioned were  peculiar,  in  that  they  opened  upon  naught  but 
the  blue  sky,  above  the  aisles;  and  they  differed  in  form,  for 
one  was  charmingly  trifoliate,  while  the  other  consisted 
strangely  of  two  circles  of  tracery,  one  upon  the  other. 

It  was  of  all  this  delicate  and  delightful  cotta-work  that 
Symonds  thought  when  he  wrote:  "  What  the  clay  can  do 
almost  better  than  any  crystalline  material,  may  be  seen  in 
the  mouldings  so  characteristic  of  Lombard  architecture. 
Geometrical  patterns  of  the  rarest  and  most  fanciful  de- 
vices; scrolls  of  acanthus  foliage,  and  traceries  of  tendrils; 
Cupids  swinging  in  festoons  of  vines;  angels  joining  hands 
in  dance;  —  ornaments  like  these,  wrought  from  the  plastic 
clay,  and  adapted  with  true  taste  to  the  requirements  of  the 
architecture,  are  familiar  to  every  one  who  has  studied  the 
church  front  of  Crema,  the  cloisters  of  the  Certosa, —  or  the 
public  palace  of  Cremona. —  The  facade  of  the  Cathedral 
displays  that  peculiar  blend  of  byzantine  or  romanesque 
round  arches  with  gothic  details  in  the  windows,  and  with 
the  acute  [sic]  angle  of  the  central  pitch,  which  forms  the 
characteristic  quality  of  the  late  trecento  Lombard  man- 
ner." 

Before  visiting  the  interior  I  turned  for  lunch  across  the 
piazza  to  that  old  and  well  known  hostelry,  the  Albergo  del 
Pozzo,  whither  my  luggage  had  some  time  preceded  me  on 
a  porter's  shoulder.  It  is  located  at  the  square's  southwest- 
ern corner,  next  the  clock-tower,  approached  down  a  dark 
and  narrow  cul-de-sac;  formerly  "  one  of  those  queer  Italian 
inns,  which  carry  you  away  at  once  into  a  scene  of  Goldoni's 
—  a  part  of  some  palace  where   nobles  housed   their  bravi 


LODI  AND  CREMA  317 

in  the  16th  century."  I  say  formerly,  because  I  found  that 
the  craze  for  newness  and  restoration  had  reached  even  here, 
altering  the  old  house  for  modern  ideas,  and  adding  the  word 
"  Nuovo  "  to  the  ancient  name. 

After  lunch,  and  a  little  rest,  I  entered  the  Cathedral, 
finding  its  long  and  lofty  nave  covered  with  gothic  vaulting 
divided  into  bays,  and  supported  by  massive  stucco  piers, 
faced  with  corinthian  half-columns;  the  latter,  uncomforta- 
bly renaissance  in  form,  reached  to  a  heavy,  gilded  cornice 
that  was  more  so;  round  arches  connected  the  piers,  but  the 
lower,  narrow  aisles  again  were  roofed  with  pointed  vault- 
ing, carrying  side-altars  ensconced  in  shallow  recesses. 
Round  the  apsidal,  slightly  elevated  choir  the  classic  half- 
columns  and  gilded  cornice  were  continued,  but  at  its  sides 
the  aisles  remained  at  their  original  level ;  —  a  bewildering 
mixture  of  the  gothic,  renaissance  and  romanesque.  The 
marble  pavement  was  tessellated  in  grey  and  white;  and  the 
organ-loft  was  perched  over  the  front  entrance,  behind  a 
handsomely  carved  and  gilded  wooden  railing,  adorned  with 
cherubs  as  caryatides.  So,  although  the  dimensions  and 
proportions  of  the  building  were  imposing  and  symmetrical, 
they  were  greatly  spoiled  by  the  anomalous  jumble  of  differ- 
ent styles,  due  to  its  unfortunate  "  restoration  "  in  the  de- 
cadent period. 

Immediately  to  left  of  the  entrance  there  hung  a  pleasing 
canvas  of  the  Annunciation,  warmly  toned  and  gracefully 
drawn,  and  to  right,  a  Visitation,  also  well  composed,  with  a 
dusky  landscape ;  both  being  works  of  the  -cinquecento  Campi 
family,  of  Cremona, —  who,  though  not  alone  in  their  glory, 
played  in  this  district  the  same  part  as  did  the  Piazza  family 
at  Lodi.  Galeazzo  Campi,  the  father,  flourished  from  about 
1500  to  1536;  and  was  succeeded  by  his  more  brilliant 
sons,  Giulio,  Vincenzo  and  Antonio,  with  their  cousin  Ber- 


318  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

nardino,  of  whom  the  former  considerably  surpassed  the 
others  in  genius  and  decorative  skill,  raising  their  name  to 
the  front  rank  in  Lombard  art. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  right  aisle  sat  a  modern  statue  of 
Pope  Pius  IX.  Modern  also  was  the  brightly  stained  glass 
in  the  front  windows,  which  percolated  the  dusk  with  gay- 
hued  shafts.  Over  the  first  altar  to  left  stood  an  interesting 
but  injured  quattrocento  pala,  covered  with  glass,  of  un- 
known authorship:  the  Holy  Family,  with  St.  John  the 
Baptist,  and  a  quaint  little  angel.  Over  the  second  altar 
stood  Civerchio's  remaining  masterpiece,  which  he  executed 
in  15 19:  a  group  of  three  lifesize  standing  figures, —  Sts. 
Roch,   Christopher  and   Sebastian. 

These  forms,  though  not  particularly  graceful  or  pleas- 
ing, were  distinguished  by  the  master's  usual  power  of  mod- 
elling, vigorous  treatment,  and  force  of  expression, —  all  the 
qualities  that  made  him  such  a  leader  of  his  time.  But  of 
pietistic  atmosphere  there  was  none,  and  of  decorativeness 
hardly  an  apparent  effort,  excepting  the  St.  Roch's  em- 
broidered and  finely  executed  vestment.  The  certain  charm 
that  his  work  nevertheless  undeniably  possesses,  consists  in 
its  beautiful  tone,  excellent  anatomy  and  strong  tactile  values; 
which  leave  the  unescapable  impression  of  a  sure,  a  sapient, 
and  a  powerful  hand. —  Besides  these  there  was  no  other  ob- 
ject of  note  in  the  Cathedral,  beyond  the  adjacent  modern 
monument  to  the  musician  Benzi,  which  had  a  really  en- 
chanting relief  of  St.  Cecilia  playing  upon  her  organ,  rapt 
in  mystic  and  reverential  contemplation. 

Traversing  now  the  archway  of  the  municipal  clock-tower, 
whose  farther  side  was  considerably  more  adorned,  with 
classic  mouldings,  cornice,  etc.,  I  followed  the  winding  west- 
ern thoroughfare  to  the  gate  at  its  end,  the  Porta  Ombriano, 
which  proved  to  be  quite  a  striking  renaissance  structure,  of 


LODI  AND  CREMA  319 

stucco  simulating  stone,  its  main  arch  being  framed  by  four 
ponderous,  fluted,  doric  columns,  upholding  a  heavy  pedi- 
ment of  the  same  order.  The  sides  of  the  face  were  rusti- 
cated, and  pierced  by  curious  little  archways  for  pedestrians, 
of  Moorish,  horseshoe  type;  above  which  perched  a  couple 
of  busts,  in  deep,  oval  niches.  Retracing  then  my  steps,  I 
hunted  up  the  remaining  solitary  specimen  of  the  Piazza  school 
in  Crema,  a  Madonna  with  Sts.  Peter,  Paul,  Roch  and  Se- 
bastian, located  in  the  uninteresting  church  of  SS.  Trinita; 
executed  by  Calisto  about  1535,  it  exhibited  his  usual  qual- 
ities of  pleasing  fullness  of  form,  grace  of  pose  and  dispo- 
sition, and  richness  of  tone  and  colour. 

After  that  I  repaired  again  to  the  eastern  gate,  and  fol- 
lowing the  shady  parkway  without,  proceeded  along  the 
northern  road  past  the  station,  some  three-quarters  of  a  mile 
farther,  to  the  handsome  pilgrimage  church  of  S.  Maria 
della  Croce ;  which  occupies  somewhat  the  same  artistic  re- 
lation to  Crema  that  the  Incoronata  does  to  Lodi.  Curi- 
ously enough,  it  was  likewise  built  by  Giov.  Battaggia,  and 
in  the  same  Bramantesque  design, —  in  fact  one  of  the  most 
elegant  buildings  (according  to  Ricci)  ever  erected  in  the 
Bramantesque  style.  It  was  not  so  lavishly  embellished 
with  painting,  but  was  given  some  lustrous  palas  by  the 
Campi,  and  endowed  with  the  beautiful  exterior  lacking  to 
the  Incoronata, —  an  exterior  at  once  majestic,  strikingly 
graceful,  and  decorated  with  a  mass  of  the  richest  and  most 
elaborate  details. 

It  was  visible  for  some  distance,  framed  in  the  vista  of  the 
tall  horsechestnut  trees  lining  the  avenue  of  approach, —  a 
charming  picture  in  its  variegated  bright  hues  of  yellow 
brick,  crimson  terracotta,  and  glistening  white  marble  and 
stucco.  The  Bramantesque  rotunda,  constituting  the  main 
body  of  the  edifice,  towered  to  a  lofty  height  in  four  ornate 


320  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

stages,  its  low-pitched  roof  capped  with  a  dainty,  tapering 
lantern;  and  affixed  to  this  drum  were  four  equidistant  por- 
ticoes, two  stories  in  height,  each  crowned  orientally  with  a 
group  of  five  domes,  of  which  the  central  was  always  much 
larger  than  the  other  four.  The  top  stage  of  the  main  body 
was  encircled  by  a  beautiful  arcaded  gallery,  with  a  gleam- 
ing multitude  of  slender  marble  columns;  terracotta  mould- 
ings framed  the  trefoil  arches,  and  the  sustaining  parapet 
consisted  of  a  series  of  diverse  open-work  panels,  delight- 
fully wrought  in  terracotta,  with  figures  of  wheels,  crosses, 
and  stars  simple  or  flamboyant.  The  third  story  was  also 
an  arcaded  gallery,  of  double  round  arches  on  brick  pillars, 
enclosed  in  handsome  cotta  mouldings  and  bearing  cotta 
medallions  in  the  lunettes,  with  a  parapet  similar  to  that 
above.  The  effect  of  these  two  arcades  was  indescribably 
graceful  and  pleasing,  in  spite  of  the  false  note  struck  in 
plastering  and  whitewashing  the  brickwork  of  all  the  span- 
drels. The  same  trick  had  been  played  upon  the  frames 
of  the  rectangular  windows  occupying  the  lower  stories;  oth- 
erwise these  stories  and  the  porticoes  —  they  might  better, 
perhaps,  be  styled  pavilions  —  displayed  the  yellow-brick 
unaltered.  It  was  certainly  a  most  singular  and  interesting 
structure,  perfectly  exemplifying  the  extent  to  which  the 
Renaissance  builders  of  this  region  made  use  of  the  earlier 
Lombard  manner, —  so  much  so  as  to  constitute  but  a  modifi- 
cation of  the  latter. 

Entering  by  the  western  portico,  I  found  the  usual  oc- 
tagonal rotunda,  surrounded  by  decorative  stucco  archways, 
three  of  which  serve  for  ingresses,  a  fourth  for  the  small 
tribune,  and  the  others  —  covering  the  diagonal  corners  — 
for  altar-recesses.  The  queer  little  tribune  occupied  the  east- 
ern pavilion,  raised  about  seven  feet,  and  approached  by  two 
small  stairways,  with  a  grating  between  them  through  which 


LODI  AND  CREMA  321 

was  visible  the  tiny  crypt  below.  Overhead  circled  the  ar- 
caded  windows,  two  per  side,  framed  in  painted  stucco  pilas- 
ters; and  still  higher,  soared  the  dome,  frescoed  with  a 
baroque  paradise.  As  a  whole,  it  was  a  charming  structure, 
thoroughly  consonant  and  well  proportioned ;  though  not  to 
be  compared  with  Lodi's  Incoronata.  The  paintings  were 
but  four,  over  the  corner  altars:  a  St.  Veronica  wiping  the 
face  of  the  fallen  Christ,  a  Deposition,  with  seven  lifesize 
figures,  an  Adoration  of  the  Shepherds,  lighted  only  by  the 
luminous  Child,  and  an  exceptionally  fine  Adoration  of 
the  Magi,  of  splendid  tone  and  atmosphere,  containing  a 
most  lovely,  rounded  Madonna.  All  were  executed  by  the 
Campi,  in  their  usual  voluptuous  moulding  and  Venetian 
glow  and  colouring;  and  they  illumined  the  church  with  their 
glory  of  holy  figures  and  lustrous  dramatic  scenes. 

In  the  country  surrounding  Crema  I  had  now  two  little 
places  to  visit.  The  first,  Soncino,  was  a  village  about  ten 
miles  to  the  east,  upon  the  Oglio, —  attainable  only  by  driv- 
ing or  taking  the  steam  tramway,  along  the  high-road  lead- 
ing to  Brescia.  It  was  here,  on  May  17,  1431,  that  Car- 
magnola  allowed  himself  to  be  taken  napping  by  Fran. 
Sforza,  suffering  the  loss  of  1,600  cavalry  and  barely  escap- 
ing with  his  life:  the  first  of  those  disasters  which  excited 
the  ire  of  the  Venetian  Senate,  and  resulted  finally  in  his 
fearful  death.  By  making  an  early  start  on  the  following 
morning  I  was  able  to  accomplish  my  devoir  and  return  by 
sunset.  Though  so  small  and  remote,  Soncino,  as  I  found, 
possesses  a  number  of  interesting  buildings  of  the  high- 
Renaissance,  due  to  the  villeggiatura  sought  there  for  several 
years  by  Duke  Galeazzo  Maria  Sforza.  They  consist 
chiefly,  to  be  brief,  of  the  summer  palace  built  for  the  Duke 
by  Benedetto  Farini,  1470-75, —  once  a  striking  edifice,  in 
the  renaissance  style  inaugurated  by  Filarete,  but  now  ruin- 


322  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

ous  and  given  over  to  commoner  uses;  of  the  Palazzo  Viala, 
erected  about  the  same  time  for  one  of  the  noble  Milanese 
families,  and  distinguished  by  the  beauty  of  its  terracotta 
decorations;  and  of  the  church  of  S.  Maria  delle  Grazie, 
constructed  in  Lodovico's  reign,  which  is  adorned  with  a 
handsome  series  of  frescoes  by  Giulio  Campi,  executed  in  his 
customary  ornate  style,  shortly  after  1530. —  Four  miles 
north  of  the  village,  at  Torre  Pallavicina,  is  another  and 
more  interesting  series  of  paintings  by  the  Campi,  because 
adorning  the  stately  rooms  of  the  Villa  Barbi,  and  hence 
devoted  to  those  classical  subjects  for  which  their  manner 
was  more  especially  fitted.  That  they  were  splendid  dec- 
orators is  shown  in  these  happy  works.  To  include  them 
in  the  same  day's  trip,  one  should  start  from  Crema  in  car- 
riage or  motor-car,  not  relying  on  the  tram. 

The  other  place,  Castelleone,  could  be  taken  by  me  en 
route  to  Cremona;  for  it  lies  half  a  dozen  miles  southeast 
of  Crema,  upon  the  railroad,  and  I  had  only  therefore  to 
stop  off  a  train.  It  contains  but  one  object  of  notable  in- 
terest, but  that  is  an  object  of  memorable  beauty:  the  splen- 
did, richly  tinted  altar-piece  in  its  church  of  the  Incoronata 
that  was  executed  by  Martino  and  Albertino  Piazza, — "  in 
which,"  said  Layard,  "  especially  in  the  lower  series  of  pic- 
tures [for  it  is  a  polytych,  like  their  works  at  Lodi]  scarcely 
anything  is  left  to  be  desired  in  point  of  correct  and  beauti- 
ful drawing."  20 

The  same  morning  that  saw  me  at  Castelleone,  found  me, 
as  it  drew  near  to  noon,  entering  by  the  train  that  glorious 
old  city  of  the  plain  to  which  my  eyes  had  so  long  been 
eagerly  cast  forward, —  the  city  of  the  great  Torrazzo,  and 
greater  Cathedral,  of  Boccaccino,  Melone,  Gatti,  and  the 
Campi,   of  the  ideal   Piazza  of  the  Middle  Ages,   and  the 

20  Layard's  "  Handbook  of  Painting." 


LODI  AND  CREMA  323 

masterpieces  of  Lombard  architecture  in  brick  and  terra- 
cotta,—  which  justly  indeed  may  be  called  Cremona  the 
Captivating.21 

21  Cremona  the  Contentious,  however, —  to  preserve  the  allitera- 
tion, for  want  of  better  or  more  storied  adjectives, —  would  still 
more  adequately  describe  the  city,  when  bearing  in  mind  its  char- 
acter, derived  from  centuries  of  strife  both  internecine  and  external, 
which  was  the  most  bellicose  of  the  plain. 


CHAPTER  X 

CREMONA  THE  CONTENTIOUS 

"  But  his  x  new  kingdom  leaving  to  his  band, 
Far  other  destiny  awaits  that   throng; 
For  with  the  Mantuan's  friendly  succour  manned, 
Gonsalvo  to  the  war  returns  so  strong, 
He  leaves  not  in  a  few  months,  by  sea  or  land, 
One  living  head,  his   slaughtering  troops   among." 

Ariosto's  "  Orlando  Furioso." 

"  Hunc  exitum  Cremona  habuit  —  bellis  externis  intacta, 
civilibus  infelix," — wrote  Tacitus;  and,  as  has  so  often  been 
observed,  the  remark  continued  to  characterise  the  city's 
history  down  to  modern  times.  Originally  the  capital  town 
of  the  Celtic  tribe  of  the  Cenomani,  from  whom  the  name 
was  perhaps  derived,  at  the  end  of  the  fierce  struggle  by 
which  Rome  first  conquered  the  Celts  and  took  possession  of 
Lombardy  Cremona  was  made  a  legionary  camp,  and  a  mili- 
tary settlement  second  only  in  importance  to  Placentia. 
The  chaos  of  the  second  Punic  War  quickly  followed ;  but 
so  strongly  had  the  place  been  fortified,  that  Hannibal,  after 
testing  its  powers  of  resistance,  was  obliged  to  leave  it  behind 
him  uncaptured.  When  this  peril  was  ended  Cremona  was 
again  invested,  in  B.  C.  200,  by  the  revolting  Boii  and  In- 
subres.  "  A  great  battle  before  the  city  ended  in  the  over- 
throw of  the  Celts;  but  the  struggle  continued,  nor  was  it 
until  the  Boii  and  Insubres  quarrelled,  and  the  Cenomani 
turned  traitors  on  the  field  of  battle  and  attacked  their  old 
allies,  that  the  Insubres  submitted."  2 

1  Louis   XII   of   France. —  Rose's  Translation. 

2  Mommsen's  "  History  of  Rome,"  Chap.  XVI. 

324 


CREMONA  THE  CONTENTIOUS         325 

In  such  turmoil  was  the  city  born;  which  thenceforth 
steadily  increased  in  size  and  wealth,  maintaining  its  prom- 
inence amongst  the  leading  Roman  settlements  of  the  plain. 
But  with  the  Caesarian  epoch  came  evil  times:  for  Cremona's 
adherence  to  the  party  of  liberty  it  was  punished  by  the 
second  Triumvirate,  by  the  seizure  and  distribution  of  its 
lands  amongst  their  legionaries ;  and  a  century  later,  through 
its  faithfulness  to  Vitellius,  it  was  stormed  and  sacked  by  the 
soldiers  of  Vespasian,  when  the  latter  was  on  his  triumphant 
way  to  the  imperial  throne, —  and  being  set  on  fire,  was 
burned  to  the  ground.  Vespasian  later  made  some  amends 
by  aiding  in  its  rebuilding;  and  Cremona  again  flourished, 
till  the  fall  of  the  Western  Empire.  Alaric  pillaged  the  city 
of  its  wealth;  Attila  seized  what  the  people  had  left;  non- 
resistance  in  each  case  saved  their  dwellings,  yet  such  was 
the  general  devastation  in  which  they  participated,  that  the 
whole  of  eastern  Lombardy  became  utterly  ruined  and  al- 
most depopulated, —  as  St.  Ambrose  bore  witness  in  his  39th 
Epistle. 

Under  the  Ostrogoths  Cremona  and  the  countryside  re- 
vived, only  to  suffer  more  desolation  'from  the  warfare  of 
Justinian,  and  the  conquest  of  the  Lombards,  whose  monarch 
Agilulf  practically  laid  the  city  once  more  in  ruins.  "  In- 
tact "  she  did  remain,  through  those  two  centuries  of  disaster, 
if  it  be  called  so  to  leave  standing  the  bare  walls  of  a  small 
part  of  her  structures.  The  surviving  citizens  took  refuge 
for  a  time  amongst  the  islands  of  the  Po  and  the  mountains 
of  the  Apennines.  With  the  7th  century,  however,  Cre- 
mona began  a  long  era  of  comparative  prosperity,  waxing 
especially  in  the  epoch  of  Lombard  municipal  independence, 
when,  firstly  under  the  rule  of  her  bishops,  and  after  1080 
as  a  strong  and  opulent  republic,  she  indulged  in  a  glory  of 
civic   building   that  became   the   envy   of   all   other    towns. 


326  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

Using  only  clay,  with  rare  bits  of  marble,  her  artisans 
erected  structures  whose  size  and  beauty  still  make  us  won- 
der,—  the  finest  creations  of  their  kind;  and  in  the  12th 
and  13th  centuries  they  raised  that  extraordinary  group  of 
public  edifices  that  are  still  fortunately  preserved,  to  con- 
stitute the  ideal  piazza  of  the  Middle  Age. 

Like  the  other  cities,  however,  in  proportion  as  Cremona 
waxed  strong  and  built  grandiosely,  she  suffered  from  the 
intestinal  strife  of  parties, —  nobles  and  people,  Guelfs  and 
Ghibellines.  There  is  a  law  of  nature  that  regulated  the 
extent  of  one  by  the  other, —  the  law  of  zealous,  determined, 
ambitious  character,  whose  passion  for  war  and  politics  was 
equalled  by  that  of  civic  pride.  Thus  was  Cremona  "  civ- 
ilibus  infelix,"  and  torn  by  generations  of  internecine  strug- 
gle. But  the  Ghibellines  had  the  upper  hand,  and  directed 
the  city's  policy  uniformly  to  the  support  of  Pavia  and  im- 
perialism, sending  her  militia  to  the  front  in  every  crisis  of 
the  period.  They  supported  Barbarossa  enthusiastically  in 
his  various  designs,  taking  a  prominent  part  in  the  destruc- 
tions of  Crema  and  Milan.  But  the  ensuing  reaction  over- 
whelmed Cremona  with  the  rest,  giving  the  Guelfs  of  the 
city  their  turn;  so  that  at  Pontida  "  the  deputies  of  the  Cre- 
monese,  who  had  lent  their  aid  to  the  destruction  of  Milan, 
seconded  those  of  the  Milanese  villages  in  imploring  aid 
of  the  confederated  towns  to  rebuild  the  city  of  Milan."  3 

By  the  time  of  Frederick  II  Cremona  had  returned  to  her 
imperial  allegiance,  and  helped  largely  in  inflicting  the  terri- 
ble defeat  of  Ghibello,  in  1218,  upon  the  Guelfic  league 
headed  by  Milan.  In  1226  she  refused  to  join  in  the  gen- 
eral renewal  of  the  Lombard  League.  Yet  at  home,  mean- 
while, the  struggles  between  the  factions  were  never  so 
fierce,  the  nobles  of  course  taking  the  Ghibelline  side  and 

3  Sismondi's  "  Italian  Republics." 


CREMONA  THE  CONTENTIOUS  327 

the  people  the  Pope's;  for  forty  years  the  streets  of  the  city 
were  regularly  drenched  in  blood  from  their  fratricidal  com- 
bats, and  scattered  with  the  bricks  of  demolished  houses. 
This  continued  after  the  death  of  Frederick  II,  until  a 
strong  man  finally  emerged  from  the  ranks  of  the  noble 
Ghibellines  to  make  himself  master  of  the  town;  this  was 
Buoso  da  Doara,  the  friend  and  ally  of  Ezzelino  da  Ro- 
mano. His  treachery  to  the  latter,  in  1259,  was  a  main 
cause  of  Ezzelino's  downfall;  after  which  the  Marchese 
Pallavicino,  of  San  Donnino,  became  the  head  of  the  Lom- 
bard imperialist  party,  and  was  elected  by  the  citizens  to  be 
overlord  of  Cremona,  with  Buoso  as  his  acting  viceroy.  The 
Guelfic  popolo  grosso  soon  again  made  trouble,  and  might 
have  unseated  Buoso  had  he  not  been  aided  by  Mastino  I, 
della  Scala,  whose  hands  vainly  itched  for  the  possession  of 
the  rich  city. 

Again  the  wheel  of  fortune  turned,  bringing  the  Guelfs 
on  top  throughout  Italy,  owing  to  the  defeat  and  death  of 
the  young  Emperor  Conradin,  Frederick's  grandson,  at  the 
hands  of  Charles  of  Anjou,  the  new  conqueror  of  Naples. 
Charles  thereupon,  with  the  Pope's  direction,  placed  himself 
at  the  head  of  the  papal  party,  and,  coming  to  Lombardy, 
gathered  at  Cremona  a  diet  of  the  northern  cities;  in  1269 
Cremona,  Ferrara,  and  a  few  other  towns  invested  him 
with  their  lordship;  and  for  several  years  he  swayed  a  fair 
part  of  Italy  as  papal  and  imperial  vicar.  In  1277,  by  an- 
other revolution  of  the  wheel,  Charles  was  forced  by  a  new 
pope  to  resign  his  northern  lordships;  the  Ghibellines  strug- 
gled once  more  to  the  ascendency  in  Lombardy,  and  the 
Visconti  usurped  the  tyranny  of  Milan. 

Otho  Visconti  proceeded  to  Lodi  and  Cremona,  where  he 
was  enthusiastically  received,  and  "  formed  anew  the  coun- 
cils of  these  republics,  admitting  only  Ghibellines  and  nobles; 


328  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

who,  ruined  by  a  long  exile,  and  often  supported  by  the  lib- 
erality of  the  Archbishop,  were  become  humble  and  obse- 
quious; their  deference  degenerated  into  submission."  Thus 
did  Cremona  lose  her  independence.  The  Visconti  never 
but  temporarily  loosened  the  grip  they  had  acquired.4  Azzo, 
when  he  had  purchased  the  duchy  of  Milan  from  Emperor 
Louis  in  1328,  made  Cremona  an  integral  part  of  his  do- 
minions; and  the  noble  family  of  Cavalcabo  became  the 
Visconti  deputies,  tyrannising  over  their  fellow-citizens  with 
unrestricted  power.  In  1395  the  city  was  formally  included 
in  the  grant  of  a  more  extensive  duchy,  made  by  Emperor 
Wenceslaus  to  Gian  Galeazzo.  When  the  latter  died,  the 
resulting  chaos  was  taken  advantage  of  at  Cremona  for  the 
perpetration  of  one  of  the  greatest  and  most  frightful  crimes 
of  the  Renaissance  era. 

The  Cavalcabo  first  seized  the  opportunity  to  make  them- 
selves independent  despots,  under  their  chief,  Ugolino,  who 
for  some  time  signed  himself  Lord  of  Cremona.  Locally, 
he  felt  secure;  for  his  family  was  preponderantly  rich  and 
powerful,  and  numbered  nearly  a  hundred  members  alto- 
gether. But  he  had  a  noble  friend,  Gabrino  Fondulo,  who 
was  also  wealthy  and  secretly  ambitious.  Taking  advantage 
of  the  long-trusted  friendship  with  which  he  was  regarded, 
this  unparalleled  villain  one  day  in  1406  gathered  nearly 
the  whole  clan  of  Cavalcabo  at  his  private  palace  of  Ma- 
castorno,  under  an  invitation  to  a  grand  entertainment;  the 
very  pains  which  he  took  to  have  every  one  of  the  ruling  race 
present,  would  at  once  have  aroused  suspicion  in  that  age, 
had  it  not  been  for  the  extreme  confidence  with  which  they 

4  In  1310,  on  account  of  Cremona's  transitory  reversal  to  the 
Guelfic  cause,  she  was  captured  by  the  Emperor  Henry  VII,  and 
for  three  days  given  over  to  pillage  and  destruction.  The  bloody  in- 
ternecine conflicts  nevertheless  continued,  until  Azzo's  lordship. 


CREMONA  THE  CONTENTIOUS  329 

had  for  years  rewarded  his  devoted  attachment.  A  very  few 
by  chance  only  escaped  the  deadly  snare,  including  a  grown 
son  of  the  despot.  At  a  given  signal,  when  the  guests  had 
been  long  at  table,  having  laid  aside  their  swords  and  become 
filled  with  wine,  their  host's  concealed  bravos  rushed  in  to 
the  work  of  murder,  butchering  men,  women  and  children 
alike,  while  others  held  the  doors. 

Seventy  Cavalcabo  were  slaughtered  in  this  unprecedented 
crime,  and  their  bodies  afterward  thrown  into  carts,  to  be 
drawn  through  the  streets  of  Cremona,  exposed  and  quar- 
tered in  the  Piazza,  and  finally  consumed  upon  a  huge  pyre, 
around  which  the  people  danced.  Fondulo's  self-declared 
lordship  was  perforce  accepted ;  and  he  ruled  with  vigour  for 
thirteen  years,  holding  and  extending  his  power  by  ferocity 
and  guile.  In  1414  he  received  a  joint  visit  from  Emperor 
Sigismund  and  Pope  John  XXIII ;  which  shows  that  he  had 
attained  an  assured  position  of  some  importance.  But  his 
fate,  though  delayed,  arrived  at  last:  defeated  in  1424  by  the 
forces  of  Filippo  Maria,  now  engaged  in  recovering  his 
father's  domains,  Fondulo  was  captured  and  taken  to  Milan ; 
where,  after  due  tortures  and  exposure,  he  was  beheaded  as 
a  murderer  and  traitor. 

During  the  succeeding  warfare  between  Filippo  Maria 
and  Venice,  Cremona  was  the  object,  between  1427  and 
1431,  of  several  efforts  for  its  capture  by  the  latter, —  Car- 
magnola  heading  the  Republic's  forces  and  Carlo  Malatesta 
the  defending  Milanese.  On  May  21,  1427,  the  Visconti 
fleet  was  defeated  and  burned  by  the  Venetian,  on  the  waters 
of  the  Po  before  the  city.  On  another  occasion  an  encounter 
of  the  land  forces  witnessed  that  famous  and  horrible  deed 
of  Malatesta,  which  Ouida  referred  to  in  her  "  Pascarel  "  as 
"  that  dreadful  ditch  —  filled  up  with  bleeding  and  stifled 
peasants,  thrust  into  a  living  death,  that  the  knights  might 


330  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

spur  their  horses  in  safety  over  the  chasm,  while  Carlo  Mala- 
testa's  golden  mantle  fluttered  in  all  the  pride  of  war." 
Here  it  was,  too,  that  Bart.  Colleoni  won  his  first  renown, 
by  a  redoubtable  exploit  executed  in  company  with  that  son 
of  Ugolino  Cavalcabo  who  had  escaped  Fondulo's  clutches. 
The  former  had  but  shortly  entered  the  Venetian  service,  as 
a  captain  of  forty  horse;  and  the  latter  was  vainly  seeking 
to  recover  his  inheritance,  with  the  assistance  of  faithful 
friends  within  the  city. 

"  Bartolomeo  and  Cavalcabo  —  approached  the  walls  by 
night,  with  great  precaution,  and,  on  that  side  where  they 
had  been  informed  the  defences  were  weakest,  placed  their 
ladders.  Bartolomeo  was  the  first  '  con  intrepidissimo 
ammo,'  to  ascend  the  wall  and  to  occupy  the  tower  of  San 
Luca,  having  killed  the  commander  and  the  guards.  News 
was  sent  at  once  to  Carmagnola  of  this  success;  upon  which, 
had  he  hastened  to  Cremona,  without  doubt  it  would  have 
fallen. —  The  young  adventurers  held  the  tower  for  three 
days, —  but  finally  were  obliged  to  descend  and  return  to 
the  army."  5  Such  was  the  narrow  escape  of  the  ancient 
city  from  being  taken  by  assault,  and  plundered;  and  such 
the  beginning  of  Colleoni's  great  career. 

Filippo  Maria  kept  his  grip  on  Cremona,  until,  in  1 44 1, 
it  was  ceded  by  him  to  Fran.  Sforza,  as  the  principal  asset 
of  the  dowry  of  his  daughter  Bianca.  Thus  it  became  the 
first  lordship  of  the  Sforzas,  and  was  never  relinquished  by 
them  until  Lodovico's  fall.  They  therefore  always  cher- 
ished for  the  city  a  peculiar  affection,  which  seems  to  have 
been  returned, —  for  their  rule  here  was  benevolent.  We 
read  that  in  1464  "  Lodovico  was  sent  by  his  father  to  Cre- 
mona —  whose  inhabitants  were  among  the  most  loyal  sub- 
jects of  the  Sforza  princes.     Here  he  lived  during  the  next 

5  Mrs.  Oliphant's   "  Makers  of  Venice." 


CREMONA  THE  CONTENTIOUS         331 

two  years,  enjoying  his  foretaste  of  power,  and  making  him- 
self very  popular."  6  After  the  death  of  Duke  Francesco, 
when  the  widowed  Bianca  found  herself  treated  by  her  son 
Galeazzo  with  ungrateful  severity,  it  was  to  her  beloved 
Cremona  that  she  withdrew,  in  Oct.,  1468;  "where  she 
died  a  week  after  her  arrival  — '  more  from  sorrow  of  heart 
than  sickness  of  body,'  wrote  the  doctor." 

Upon  the  dethronement  of  Lodovico,  the  Venetians,  who 
were  leagued  with  Louis  XII  against  Milan,  at  once  seized 
with  avidity  upon  the  long  coveted  prey,  making  entry  with 
their  army  into  Cremona  on  Sept.  10,  1499.  "  Thus  at 
last  the  Republic  crossed  the  Adda  and  fulfilled  a  desire 
which  she  had  nursed  from  the  days  —  of  Carmagnola's 
victory  of  Macalo."  7  Louis  finally  conceded  to  Venice 
this  corner  of  the  Sforza  domains,  and  took  the  rest  for  him- 
self. It  was  this  very  concession,  the  solitary  exception  to 
his  conquest,  that  moved  the  greedy  monarch  in  1 508  to 
unite  with  Austria  and  the  Papacy  in  the  League  of  Cam- 
brai;  the  final  result  of  which  was  the  bringing  of  the  Span- 
iards into  the  quarrel,  under  the  devastating  Gonsalvo,  and 
Louis'  loss  of  everything  he  had  gained.  Cremona  suffered 
under  the  occupation  of  Louis'  troops  from  1509  to  15 12, 
and  subsequently,  under  the  troops  of  Francis  I,  from  15 15 
to  1522.  In  the  latter  year  it  was  the  scene  of  the  final 
capitulation  of  the  French  army  of  occupation,  under  Les- 
cun,  to  the  Spaniards  and  their  allies,  who  misused  the  city 
even  worse  than  had  the  Gallic  enemy. 

This  practically  ended  the  French  power  in  Lombardy, 
for  200  years.     But  when  they  returned  in   1702,8  during 

6  Julia   Cartwright's  "Beatrice  d'Este." 

7  Brown's  "  History  of  the  Venetian  Republic." 

8  During  this  intervening  period,  from  1 522-1702,  Cremona  under 
the  government  of  Charles  V  and  his  successors  "  lost  all   riches, 


332  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

the  war  of  the  Spanish  Succession,  Cremona  at  once  became 
again  the  battleground  and  object  of  contention:  Villari 
occupied  it  with  the  French  Army;  Prince  Eugene  took  it 
from  them  by  a  surprise  attack,  making  Villari  prisoner, 
and  the  French  then  in  their  turn  soon  recaptured  the  city 
by  assault.  All  of  which  completed  the  ruin  of  the  people. 
They  had  not  then,  and  have  not  to  this  day,  recovered  from 
the  terrible  disasters  of  the  early  cinquecento,  especially  the 
devastations  of  Gonsalvo  and  his  Spaniards,  which  reduced 
the  rich  and  populous  city,  like  the  rest  of  Lombardy,  to  an 
almost  uninhabited  waste.  Its  grand  old  public  buildings, 
in  both  conflicts,  fortunately  escaped  destruction;  but  the 
population  is  now  only  some  37,000, —  but  a  half,  or  less, 
of  its  size  in  the  palmy  days  of  the  Renaissance. 

"  O  fierce  and  hungry  harpies,  that  on  blind 
And  erring  Italy  so  full  have  fed! 
Whom,  for  the  scourge  of  ancient  sins  designed, 
Haply  just  Heaven  to  every  board  has  sped. 
Innocent  children,  pious  mothers,  pined 
With  hunger,  die,  and  see  their  daily  bread, — 
The  orphan's  and  the   widow's  scanty  food  — 
Feed  for  a  single  feast  that  filthy  brood."  9 

In  those  same  palmy  days  Cremona  was  a  notable  centre 
of  art,  renowned  for  her  splendid  architecture  and  her  eclec- 
tic school  of  painting.  From  the  earliest  times  her  people 
displayed  a  remarkable  love  of  the  beautiful  and  an  excep- 
tional enthusiasm  for  its  culture.  They  showed  this  in 
1 107,  when  they  founded  their  great  Cathedral  upon  lines 

power,  liberty,  industry  and  commerce,"  and  became  "  reduced  to 
the  ultimate  ruin, —  a  miserable  borough  of  mendicants,  sad,  inert, 
and   savage    like    their    territory." — Illustrazione   Storica,    etc.,    di 
Cremona. 
b  Rose's  Translation  of  Ariosto. 


CREMONA  THE  CONTENTIOUS         333 

so  magnificent;  in  the  succeeding  generations,  when  they 
made  such  sacrifices  for  its  building  and  adornment,  and  for 
the  erection  of  the  Baptistery,  the  Torrazzo,  and  the  Palazzo 
Pubblico ;  and  again  when  the  Duomo  was  finished,  "  which 
as  speedily  as  possible  was  decorated  with  all  that  sculpture 
and  painting  could  afford."  From  age  to  age  they  continued 
that  decoration,  the  successive  generations  of  local  artists 
all  labouring  upon  the  beloved  edifice ;  so  that  today  we  may 
read  upon  its  grand  old  walls  the  story  of  Cremona's  artistic 
progression.  As  Corrado  Ricci  says, —  in  his  "  Art  of  North- 
ern Italy," — "  Cremona  was,  of  all  the  Lombard  cities,  the 
one  which  produced  the  largest  and  most  compact  group  of 
painters."  But  we  must  in  justice  go  much  farther  than 
this:  it  was  a  group  of  fascinating  individuality  and  wonder- 
ful power,  surpassed  in  its  numerous  works  by  the  schools 
of  Venice  and  Verona  alone, —  a  group  whose  productions 
were  of  such  remarkable  beauty,  force  and  versatility,  that 
it  is  high  time  the  world  accorded  it  its  proper  rank  in  the 
halls  of  fame. 

In  some  fragmentary  frescoes  upon  the  cathedral's  vault- 
ing may  be  discerned  the  primitive  workmanship  of  the 
early  Casella,  said  to  have  been  placed  there  by  him  in  the 
year  1345.  In  the  earlier  and  middle  quattrocento  the  chief 
Cremonese  artist  was  Cristoforo  Moretti,  who  "  was  one  of 
the  reformers  of  art  in  Lombardy,  and  particularly  the 
branches  of  perspective  and  design."  10  In  the  latter  part  of 
that  century  appeared  the  master  who  was  the  true  founder 
of  the  Cremona  school, —  the  great  Boccaccio  Boccaccino, 
(1460-1524)  who  "bears  the  same  character  among  the 
Cremonese  as  Ghirlandajo  [sic],  Mantegna,  Vannucci,  and 
Francia,  in  their  respective  schools;  the  best  modern  among 

10Lanzi's  "History  of  Painting." 


334  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

the  ancients,  and  the  best  of  the  ancients  in  the  list  of  the 
moderns." 10a  He  was  one  of  that  momentous  circle  of 
originators  who  learned  to  paint  in  the  Venetian  studio  of 
Gian  Bellini;  but,  on  coming  forth,  other  and  more  distinc- 
tively Lombard  influences  mingled  with  his  style,  which 
gradually  received  the  impress  of  his  unique  and  vivid  per- 
sonality. 

According  to  Pascoli,  Boccaccino  also  studied  awhile  un- 
der Perugino;  which  would  seem  to  be  borne  out  by  the 
resemblance  to  that  master's  work  in  his  composition  and  his 
figures,  endowed  with  an  Umbrian  repose  and  tender  sim- 
plicity. "He  is  a  painter" — wrote  Layard — "of  very 
distinct  individuality,  and  may  be  easily  recognised  by  the 
peculiar  type  and  expression  of  his  figures,  and  especially  by 
his  women,  who  generally  have  much  grace  and  beauty. — 
His  pictures  are  generally  gay  in  colour,  and  he  is  fond  of 
introducing  into  them  rich  velvet  draperies  —  with  carefully 
executed  and  elegant  details  and  embroideries."  1X  He  was 
employed  in  the  Duomo  from  1506  to  15 18,  in  working  upon 
the  great  series  of  frescoes  that  form  a  mighty  frieze  around 
the  nave ;  and  with  him  were  engaged,  upon  the  same  work, 
his  pupils  Altobello  Melone  and  Gian  Fran.  Bembo. 
Neither  of  these  men  were  his* equals  in  genius,  nor  did 
they  follow  his  style.  The  former  preferred  the  manner- 
isms of  Romanino,  under  whom  he  studied,  als  — while 
that  master  was  painting  his  frescoes  in  the  Duomo.  Vasari 
called    Melone's  work  truly   beautiful,   although   his   wall- 

10a  Lanzi's  "  History  of  Painting." 

11  Layard's  "  Handbook  of  Painting."  According  to  Rio  {Poetry 
of  Christian  Art)  Boccaccino's  study  of  Perugino's  methods  was 
made  simply  from  the  famous  Madonna  with  saints  which  the  lat- 
ter artist  sent  to  S.  Agostino  in  1494,  and  probably  from  the  splen- 
did polyptich  executed  for  the  Certosa.  By  these  works  Boccaccino 
was  irresistibly  and  passionately   attracted. 


THE    CATHEDRAL    OF   CREMONA 


CREMONA  THE  CONTENTIOUS  335 

decorations  were  so  tamely  coloured  as  to  give  them  the  look 
of  tapestry.  "But" — said  Lanzi — "he  excelled  in  his 
oil  painting, —  coloured  with  equal  softness  and  strength. 
His  knowledge  of  the  naked  figure  is  beyond  that  of  his  age, 
combined  with  a  grace  of  features  and  of  attitudes  that  con- 
veys the  idea  of  a  great  master." 

Romanino  and  Pordenone  were  the  two  exceptions  to  local 
talent  called  to  decorate  the  Cathedral.  Each  of  them 
adorned  it  with  several  large  histories  from  the  Sacred 
Story ;  and  those  of  Pordenone  upon  the  Passion  are  not  only 
perhaps  the  grandest  pictures  in  Cremona,  but  are  esteemed 
his  chief  masterpieces  in  fresco.  Considering  his  pre-eminent 
ability  in  that  line,  and  how  very  few  of  his  frescoes  remain 
to  us,  no  student  of  the  art  should  miss  enjoying  these  chefs 
d'ceuvres  so  fortunately  preserved,  which  have  been  cele- 
brated during  four  centuries  for  their  unsurpassed  power 
and  dramatic  expression.  Their  influence  was  the  decisive 
factor  in  Bembo's  life,  and  shines  reflected  in  his  style,  which 
became  realistic,  forceful,  of  vigorous  modelling  and  accurate 
drawing.  His  elder  brother,  Bonifazio,  was  also  an  artist 
of  some  importance. 

There  were  a  number  of  good  Cremonese  painters  of  this 
first  generation  of  the  cinquecento,  who  did  not  work  upon 
the  Duomo;  chief  among  them  Tommaso  Aleni  and  Gale- 
azzo  Campi.  But  the  latter's  title  to  fame  rests  mainly  in 
his  being  the  father  of  the  great  Campi  family,  who  in  the 
next  generation  assumed  the  leadership  of  art  in  Cremona, 
and  attained  to  such  eminence  that  Lanzi  has  bracketed 
them  with  Leonardo  and  Correggio  as  the  chief  founders  of 
Lombard  painting.  Giulio,  the  eldest  son,  was  endowed 
with  far  more  genius  than  the  others,  and  became  the  head 
of  the  family  and  their  school.  His  father,  early  perceiving 
his  extraordinary  talent,  and  feeling  unequal  to  guiding  it 


336  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

himself,  sent  him  first  to  the  school  of  Giulio  Romano,  at 
Mantua,  where  the  youth  studied  painting,  sculpture  and 
architecture.  "  He  laid  the  foundation  of  his  taste  and 
principles  under  Giulio  Romano,"  who,  recently  returned 
from  Rome  with  his  store  of  Raphaelesque  knowledge,  was 
then  adorning  with  his  beautiful  compositions  the  palaces  of 
ths  Gonzaghi. 

"  From  him  he  derived  the  dignity  of  his  design,  his 
knowledge  of  anatomy,  variety  and  fertility  of  ideas,  mag- 
nificence in  his  architecture,  and  a  general  mastery  over  every 
subject.  To  these  he  added  strength,  when  he  visited  Rome, 
where  he  studied  Raffaelo  and  the  antiques. —  Either  at 
Mantua  or  elsewhere,  he  studied  Titian. —  In  his  native 
state  he  met  with  more  models,  in  Pordenone  and  Soiaro. — 
From  such  preparatory  studies,  combined  with  imitating 
whatever  he  met  with  in  Raffaelo  and  Correggio,  he  acquired 
that  style  which  is  found  to  partake  of  the  manner  of  so 
many  different  artists."  12  For,  as  the  same  authority  states, 
Giulio  had  "  formed  the  project  of  uniting  the  best  qualities 
of  a  number  of  styles  in  one." — This  extraordinary  and 
comprehensive  scheme  of  eclecticism  he  not  only  carried  to 
perfect  success  in  himself,  but  afterward  adopted  it  for  the 
training  of  the  many  scholars  entrusted  to  the  Campi  school. — 
"  Giulio  surpasses  the  rest  in  point  of  dignity;  and  he  like- 
wise aims  at  displaying  more  knowledge,  both  of  the  human 
form  and  of  the  effects  of  light  and  shadows.  In  correct- 
ness, too,  he  is  superior  to  his  two  brothers,  though  he  is  not 
equal  to  Bernardino." 

Antonio  Campi  studied  under  his  brother,  afterward  lend- 
ing valuable  assistance  —  both  in  labouring  conjointly,  also 
in  individual  works  of  famous  beauty  —  in  the  painting  of  the 
numerous    canvases    for    which    they    were    commissioned; 

12  Lanzi's  "  History  of  Painting." 


CREMONA  THE  CONTENTIOUS  337 

which  not  only  fill  the  churches  and  palaces  of  Cremona 
and  its  district,  but  also  adorn  many  edifices  in  Milan  and 
other  cities.  Vincenzo,  the  third  brother,  likewise  joined 
in  this  labour;  but  his  ability  was  second-rate,  and  when  left 
to  itself  was  not  equal  to  large  figures,  though  he  excelled 
in  minute  pictures  and  in  the  painting  of  fruits  and  flowers. 
The  Cathedral  at  this  time  was  replete  with  decorations; 
Giulio  placed  within  it  a  few  final  tableaux ;  but  on  the  whole 
this  generation  had  to  turn  for  its  municipal  labours  to  the 
church  of  S.  Sigismondo, —  a  splendid  renaissance  edifice 
erected  by  Duke  Francesco  Sforza  on  the  eastern  outskirts 
of  the  city.  This  was  the  building  which  became  the  second 
theatre  for  local  frescoing,  "  where  these  artists  and  their 
descendants,  painting  as  it  were  in  competition,  rendered  it 
a  noble  school  for  the  fine  arts." 

Bernardino,  the  fifth  of  the  Campi,  a  cousin  of  the  last 
three,  followed  closely  in  certain  respects  upon  the  heels  of 
Giulio,  from  whom  he  learned  the  principles  of  the  art. 
By  some  critics  he  is  even  deemed  the  superior  of  Giulio. 
More  lifelike  in  his  modelling  and  dispositions,  he  was  yet 
surpassingly  graceful  in  form  and  gesture,  endowing  his 
figures  with  heads  of  rare  beauty,  and  wrapping  them  in 
true  pietistic  repose  and  feeling.  Not  eclectic  in  ideas,  his 
model  was  Raphael,  whom  he  followed  on  general  lines, 
outspokenly,  without  however  becoming  a  mere  imitator. 
His  masterpiece  is  the  wonderful  fresco  in  the  dome  of  San 
Sigismondo.  He  worked  mostly  alone,  not  conjointly  with 
his  cousins;  and  his  canvases  are  found  in  many  cities. 

But  the  Campi,  however  distinguished,  had  no  monopoly 
of  Cremonese  genius  during  the  middle  and  later  cinque- 
cento;  contemporary  with  them  laboured  another  family  of 
painters,  uncle  and  son,  possessing  abilities  fully  as  great  in 
many  respects,  and  surpassing  them  in  others.     These  were 


338  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

the  Gatti,  both  surnamed  Soiaro,  the  elder  of  whom  has 
been  already  mentioned  as  one  of  the  models  of  Giulio 
Campi.  This  elder  Gatti,  Bernardino,  had  therefore  some 
advantage  of  the  latter  in  years;  neither  was  he  eclectic,  but 
a  fervent  disciple  and  follower  of  Correggio,  under  whom  he 
studied  as  a  youth,  and  whose  peculiar  ideas  he  set  forth  in 
copious  works  until  over  80  years  of  age.  "  Servile  imita- 
tion," however,  cannot  be  charged  against  him;  his  mind 
was  too  vigorous,  fertile  in  conception,  and  acute  in  com- 
prehension. 

The  nephew,  Gervasio  Gatti,  was  a  still  greater  artist. 
Educated  by  his  uncle  in  the  principles  and  ways  of  Correg- 
gio, although  he  had  not  the  advantage  of  studying  personally 
under  that  master,  yet  by  going  to  Parma  and  copying  at 
length  from  his  surviving  works,  he  was  able  eventually  to 
produce  paintings  of  such  merit,  so  perfectly  in  the  best  Cor- 
reggiesque  manner,  that  strangers  could  not  believe  but  that 
he  had  been  advised  by  that  master  himself.  Gervasio's 
tableaux  exhibit  the  same  round,  full  contours,  flushed  and 
smiling  faces,  rich  but  cleverly  united  colours,  and  extensive 
chiaroscuro.  In  Lanzi's  opinion,  he  had  "  the  title  to  be 
considered  the  great  master  of  the  Cremonese  school,  which, 
benefited  by  his  presence  and  guided  by  his  precepts  and  ex- 
ample, produced  during  so  long  a  period  such  a  variety  of 
admirable  works.  To  speak  frankly  what  I  think,"  he  con- 
tinued, "  Cremona  would  never  have  seen  her  Campi,  nor 
her  Boccaccini,  rise  so  high,  if  Soiaro  had  not  exhibited  his 
talents  in  that  city." 

One  more  excellent  artist  of  this  same  rich  period  remains 
to  be  mentioned, —  Boccaccino's  son,  Camillo ;  to  whom,  as 
it  is  generally  phrased,  was  entrusted  the  continuance  of  his 
father's  tradition.  Most  worthily  he  bore  the  name, —  al- 
though, as  was  inevitable,  the  more  simple  Boccaccino  man- 


CREMONA  THE  CONTENTIOUS         339 

ner  became  overlaid  by  the  newer  developments  and  discov- 
eries, and  especially  by  the  influence  of  Correggio.  Camillo's 
talents  were  of  a  high  order,  as  is  seen  in  his  remarkable 
frescoes  at  S.  Sigismondo.  He  had  extraordinary  powers  of 
execution,  of  perspective  and  foreshortening,  of  dramatic 
composition,  and  lively  expression. 

In  the  next  century,  of  the  decadence,  Cremona  had  a  still 
more  numerous  group  of  artists,  whose  names  today  have 
mostly  sunk  into  oblivion.  Of  them  all,  one  only  is  worthy 
of  mention  in  company  with  the  cinque centists, —  the  one  in 
whom  the  dying  fire  flared  up  as  usual,  before  extinguish- 
ment,—  Cavaliere  Trotti,  surnamed  II  Malosso.  A  very 
good  specimen  of  his  abilities  I  had  already  seen  in  the 
Duomo  of  Lodi. —  Before  the  end  of  the  cinquecento  Cre- 
mona also  possessed  that  rare  asset,  a  family  of  female 
painters, — ■  the  d'Anguisciola,  whose  six  brilliant  daughters 
all  showed  talent;  but  Sophonisba,  a  pupil  of  Bern.  Gatti, 
far  surpassed  the  others,  producing  canvases  worthy  almost  of 
the  first  rank,  and  which  are  still  greatly  valued.  Very  few 
of  them,  if  any,  remain  in  her  native  town. 

There  was  another  branch  of  art,  music,  in  regard  to 
which  Cremona  shared  with  Brescia  a  uniquely  eminent 
position.  For  if  the  first  violins  were  made  at  Brescia,  it 
was  Cremona  which  chiefly  continued  their  manufacture,  and 
developed  them  into  an  excellence  which  has  never  since  been 
equalled.  This  was  done  by  the  genius  —  the  infinite,  pains- 
taking care,  and  consequent  discoveries  —  of  three  renowned 
makers.  Niccolo  Amati,  the  first  of  these,  returned  from  an 
apprenticeship  at  Brescia  to  set  up,  about  1620,  the  original 
factory  of  Cremona;  working  in  which,  during  a  long  life, 
with  the  assistance  of  his  sons,  he  began  the  instrument's 
improvement  through  profound  studies  upon  the  proper 
kinds,  seasoning  and  graining  of  wood.     From  his  appren- 


34o  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

tices  emerged  the  maker  who  became  the  greatest  the  world 
has  ever  seen, —  Antonio  Stradivari.  Born  in  1644,  this 
master  laboured  steadily  in  his  little  Cremonese  shop  until 
the  advanced  age  of  93  or  94,  investigating,  experimenting, 
developing,  turning  out  altogether  over  two  thousand  violins, 
besides  hundreds  of  violas,  every  one  of  which  had  passed 
through  his  own  expert  hands.  He  is  said  to  have  dearly 
loved  the  clink  of  gold,  and  to  have  sold  his  violins  at  an 
average  price  of  £4, —  equivalent  in  buying  power  to  £40 
today ;  but  a  good  specimen  of  his  work  is  now  worth  £4000, 
for  there  are  not  more  than  250  of  them  left  in  existence. 

From  that  same  shop  was  produced  the  third  great  master- 
workman,  Giuseppe  Ant.  Guarnieri,  who,  setting  up  a  factory 
of  his  own  after  learning  all  that  Stradivari  could  or  would 
teach  him,  carried  on  the  business  at  Cremona  until  1745. 
His  productions  have  not  the  extraordinary  value  of  his 
teacher's,  being  both  more  numerous  and  without  the  same 
magical  quality  of  tone;  but  they  occupy  the  same  elevated 
class,  far  above  all  others.  After  his  day,  for  some  unknown 
reason,  the  secret  of  the  manufacture  died  away,  and  the 
industry  ceased. 

In  the  world  of  letters  Cremona  produced,  among  other 
eminent  writers,  Marco  Girolamo  Vida,  "  the  first  poet  of 
the  second  Augustan  age  of  Roman  literature,  and  sometimes 
not  undeservably  styled  by  his  admirers,  the  Christian  Vir- 
gil." 13  Born  here  toward  the  close  of  the  quattrocento, 
of  poor  but  noble  parents,  he  managed  through  their  efforts, 
with  difficulty,  to  obtain  an  education  from  the  Universities 
of  Padua  and  Bologna;  he  entered  at  20  the  Augustine 
monastery  at  Mantua,  became  a  canon  in  the  congregation 
of  St.  John  Lateran  at  Rome,  and  poured  forth  his  poetic 
effusions  under  the  generous  patronage  of  Popes  Leo  X  and 
13  Eustace's  "  Classical  Tour  through  Italy." 


CREMONA  THE  CONTENTIOUS  341 

Clement  VII.  At  the  latter's  court  he  enjoyed  a  distin- 
guished position;  whence  he  was  promoted  to  the  Bishopric 
of  Alba,  and  finally  returned  to  his  native  town  as  prior  of 
the  monastery  attached  to  the  church  of  S.  Margherita. 
There  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  inducing  Giulio  Campi  to 
decorate  his  church  with  some  of  the  last  works  of  the  great 
painter's  life.  Vida's  poems  are  justly  renowned,  not  only 
for  their  high  finish,  but  for  their  depth  and  tenderness  of 
sentiment. 

The  city  of  Cremona  lies  still  within  its  mediaeval  brick 
walls,  strangely  but  closely  resembling  a  hen's  egg  in  shape, 
with  the  smaller  end  turned  to  the  northwest.  Both  ends 
have  been  left  mostly  bare  of  buildings,  by  the  shrinkage 
of  the  population.  Though  located  on  the  Po,  half  a  dozen 
miles  below  the  confluence  of  the  Adda,  owing  to  a  change 
of  its  course  in  the  progress  of  the  centuries  the  river  no 
longer  washes  the  city's  walls,  but  flows  by  at  a  short  dis- 
tance to  the  southwest.  A  broad  straight  highway  called 
the  Via  al  Po  now  leads  from  its  bank  to  the  Porta  del  Po, 
in  the  middle  of  the  southwestern  ramparts, —  the  only  gate 
upon  that  side.  Upon  the  northern  side  two  gateways  open : 
the  Porta  Milano,  near  the  western  end,  without  which 
lies  the  railway  station,  and  the  Porta  Venezia,  near  the 
eastern  end,  without  which  lies  the  church  of  S.  Sigismondo. 
The  central  square,  the  Piazza  del  Comune,  with  its  sur- 
rounding public  buildings,  is  located  appropriately  at  the 
egg's  centre  of  weight, —  the  middle  of  the  larger  half  — 
extending  in  a  long  parallelogram  from  northwest  to  south- 
east; as  do  all  the  principal  arteries  of  the  town.  Three 
blocks  to  the  northwest  is  found  the  huge  Piazza  Roma,  a 
delightfully  wooded  and  flowered  park  covering  many  acres, 
shaped  also  like  an  elongated  rectangle,  extending  in  the  same 
directions. 


342  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

Between  the  main  piazzas  and  the  southwestern  wall  lies 
that  portion  of  the  city  which  was  the  Roman  military  set- 
tlement, or  camp,  distinguished  by  the  rectangular  uni- 
formity of  its  streets;  while  the  portion  on  the  northeast  is 
as  clearly  mediaeval, —  vermicular  in  its  tortuous  ways.  The 
main  street  of  the  former  quarter  is  Corso  Vitt.  Emanuele, 
running  from  the  central  piazza  straight  southwest  to  the 
Porta  del  Po;  the  main  street  of  the  latter,  called  Via  Maz- 
zini  and  Corso  Umberto,  runs  twistingly  from  the  eastern 
corner  of  Piazza  Roma,  northeastward  to  the  Porta  Venezia. 
The  principal  thoroughfare  of  the  city,  dividing  these  halves, 
is  likewise  crooked,  extending  from  Porta  Alilano  southeast 
to  the  Piazza  Pescherie,  which  is  a  block  southwest  of 
Piazza  Comune;  and  passing  Piazza  Roma  en  route ,  also  a 
block  to  the  southwest. 

It  was  from  this  avenue  that  I  obtained  my  first  glimpse 
of  Cremona,  on  that  sunny  July  noon  when  I  arrived  from 
Castelleone,  and  came  jolting  over  the  cobbles  to  the  deafen- 
ing rattle  of  a  hotel  'bus.  From  Porta  Milano  we  fol- 
lowed the  main  Corso  Garibaldi  southeast,  to  the  square 
piazza  of  that  name,  dignified  by  the  classic  edifice  of  S. 
Agata  which  so  horrified  the  gothic  Mr.  Street;  thence  by 
a  northeasterly  bend  of  several  blocks,  to  the  fairly  broad 
and  imposing  Corso  Campi  (how  pleasant  it  was  to  see  that 
name,  preferred  for  once  over  the  heroes  of  the  Risorgi- 
mentol).  This  led  straight  southeasterly  again,  to  the  Piazza 
Pescherie;  but  we  turned  from  it  to  the  left,  halfway  down, 
so  that  after  a  block  I  found  myself  passing  along  the  south- 
eastern end  of  the  smiling  Piazza  Roma,  with  its  luxuriant 
trees  and  pretty  flowerbeds;  coming  finally  to  a  stop  at  its 
easterly  corner,  where  commences  the  Via  Mazzini. 

Here  was  my   hotel,   the   ancient   but   lately   remodelled 


CREMONA  THE  CONTENTIOUS  343 

Albergo  Roma,  located  at  the  northern  angle  of  street  and 
piazza,  with  a  long  stretch  of  sunny  chambers  delightfully 
overlooking  the  greenery  of  the  park, —  one  of  which  I  was 
able  to  secure.  It  was  a  typical  native  hostelry  of  the  best 
class,  frequented  by  Italian  travellers  and  the  officers  of  the 
garrison,  with  delicious  Italian  cooking  and  wines,  and  very 
reasonable  prices;  mine  host  and  hostess  were  an  energetic, 
agreeable  couple,  attentive  to  every  want,  and  made  my 
protracted  stay  very  pleasant.  The  propinquity  of  the  park 
proved  a  decided  attraction;  through  its  shady,  gravelled 
paths,  and  beside  its  flowerbeds  and  ponds,  I  found  myself 
loitering  away  many  a  wearied  hour ;  regularly,  too,  at  even- 
tide, and  upon  the  afternoons  of  festas,  in  company  with  tout 
le  inonde  I  listened  to  the  music  of  the  garrison's  band, 
which  was  large  and  excellently  drilled.  It  played  good 
classical  pieces,  from  the  central,  covered  stand,  while  the 
well-dressed  world  occupied  the  scores  of  adjacent  benches, 
and  strolled  along  the  pleasant  paths.  Amongst  the  verdure 
there  was  a  huge  stucco  jardiniere,  painted  to  resemble  bronze, 
upon  which  was  discernible  an  inscription  that  revealed  the 
cause  for  the  existence  of  so  large  a  pleasure-ground  in  the 
midst  of  a  crowded,  walled  city:  "Dove  furono  —  con- 
vento  e  tempio  —  della  —  Inquisizione  Domenicana  —  voile 
amenita  —  di  piante  e  fiori  —  il  Municipale  Consiglio  — 
1878." 

These  were,  then,  the  grounds  of  the  Dominican  monastery, 
which,  made  hateful  to  the  people  by  a  long  period  of  eccle- 
siastical oppression  and  avarice,  and  by  the  terrible  processes 
of  the  Inquisition  to  which  it  had  lent  its  aid,  was  eagerly 
demolished  soon  after  the  Risorgimento. —  Near  the  band- 
stand of  Swiss-chalet  style,  in  the  western  part  of  the  southern 
half  of  the  park,  stood  a  handsome  modern  fountain  of  mar- 


344  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

ble,  representing  three  nymphs  and  a  cherub  clinging  to  a 
rock  in  the  centre  of  the  pool,  from  whose  summit  gushed 
a  tumbling  stream.  In  the  corresponding  eastern  part  was 
a  monument  to  Cremona's  famous  composer,  Amilcare  Pon- 
chielli;  which  formerly  stood  before  the  local  theatre 
named  after  him,  and  at  which  his  operas  are  often  per- 
formed. He  is  best  remembered  as  the  author  of  "  La  Gio- 
conda." 

Toward  five  o'clock,  that  first  afternoon,  I  started  forth 
down  the  narrow  street  leading  southeastward,  and  traversing 
the  three  intervening  blocks,  stood  at  last  upon  the  ideal 
Piazza  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Words  fail  me  when  I  recall 
the  sensations  raised  by  that  first  sight  of  its  imposing  gran- 
deur, its  striking  picturesqueness,  its  wondrous  union  of 
power,  and  age,  and  magnificent  beauty.  Nothing  had  pre- 
pared me  for  buildings  so  immense,  so  perfectly  preserved 
in  all  their  harmonies  of  line  and  wealth  of  decoration.  It 
was  their  grouping  together,  doubtless,  in  this  tremendous 
rectangle,  unspoiled  by  a  single  edifice  of  later  date  than  the 
13th  century,  that  caused  each  towering  mass  to  lend  its 
dignity  and  ornamentation  to  the  others,  and  the  whole 
mighty  construction  to  produce  an  effect  thus  overpowering. 
Circling  from  the  glowing  red  public  palaces  on  the  right, 
round  by  the  tall  Baptistery  and  the  vast  facade  of  the 
Duomo,  step  by  step  they  mounted  higher,  to  the  marvellous 
bulk  of  the  Torrazzo,  piercing  the  blue  sky  400  feet  above 
the  ground.  Ah,  what  fabrics  were  these,  constructed  prac- 
tically of  clay  alone!  The  Cathedral  only  was  faced  with 
marble,  in  iridescent  stripes  of  alternate  red  and  white,  that 
reflected  the  same  hues  from  the  other  structures.  What 
perfect  accordance  marked  the  whole  of  them, —  what  a 
grand  harmony  of  Lombard  gothic  and  romanesque,  unal- 
tered, undisturbed,  transporting  the  observer  at  a  single  bound 


CREMONA  THE  CONTENTIOUS  345 

to  that  far-off  wonderful  Duecento  of  struggling  municipal 
republics,  which  seethed  and  battled,  and  erected  with  their 
puny  strength  titanic  structures  such  as  these.14 

Upon  the  left  rose  the  great  tower  and  the  Cathedral, 
successively,  connected  and  faced  by  a  graceful  arcaded  loggia, 
that  was  the  single  Renaissance  feature  of  the  Piazza;  but 
it  was  early  Renaissance,  of  simple  round  arches  upon 
corinthian  marble  columns,  adorned  only  by  alternate  statues 
of  saints  and  putti  upon  its  crowning  balustrade;  and  it 
was  thus  not  markedly  inharmonious  with  the  rest.  Upon  the 
right  stood  the  Palazzo  Municipale  and  the  Palazzo  Giuri- 
consulti,  raised  upon  massive  gothic  arches  and  crested  with 
battlements.  At  the  Piazza's  end,  upon  the  left  side,  rose 
the  octagonal  drum  of  the  Baptistery,  with  its  stern  massive- 
ness  lightened  by  its  beautiful  colonnaded  gallery  beneath 
the  eaves.  On  its  right  stretched  an  extension  of  the  Piazza, 
to  a  modern,  striped  structure  at  the  far  end,  which  had 
most  wisely  been  erected  in  the  Lombard  style  of  the  palaces, 
with  gothic  arches  and  romanesque  frieze;  betraying  its 
modernity  only  in  the  comparative  freshness  of  its  materials. 
The  hither  end  where  I  stood,  disconnected  from  the  Piazza 
proper  by  an  intervening  street,  consisted  of  four-storied 
stucco  houses,  several  centuries  of  age,  whose  ground  floors 
were  filled  with  shops  and  cafes;  but  the  observer's  back  is 

14  This  piazza  was  for  many  centuries  the  scene  of  curious 
mediaeval  festivals,  especially  the  famous  "  Caccia  del  Toro  "  held 
on  Aug.  15,  the  feast  of  the  Assumption;  the  eve  of  the  festa  was 
marked  by  a  long  combat  between  the  companies  of  the  so-called 
"  Biricchini "  and  "  Portabrente,"  recalling  Cremona's  victory  over 
Henry  IV ;  and  the  day  itself,  by  a  genuine  bull-fight,  conducted  on 
rather  free-for-all  lines,  celebrating  the  great  victory  of  the  Cre- 
monese  over  the  Parmesans  in  1248  (the  bull  being  the  chief  factor 
of  Parma's  coat  of  arms).  The  former  festival  ceased  in  772;  the 
latter  in  1575. 


346  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

invariably  turned  upon  these  buildings,  which  seem  truly 
disassociated,  and  do  not  break  the  historic  charm. 

It  is,  of  course,  the  vast,  imposing  majesty  of  the  Duomo 
and  its  tower  that  spreads  such  a  glamour  upon  this  scene. 
The  other  edifices,  by  comparison,  are  merely  complementary. 
The  tower  rises  detached  upon  the  left  of  the  fagade,  exactly 
at  the  corner  of  the  aforesaid  street,  its  gigantic  red  brick 
body  soaring  aloft  with  practically  no  opening  for  half  of  its 
stupendous  height.  It  was  a  happy  after-thought  of  the 
early  Renaissance,  that  of  linking  it  to  the  Duomo  by  a  mar- 
ble loggia;  for  this  loggia,  which  the  Cremonese  for  centuries 
have  called  their  "  Bertazzola,"  before  the  tower  alone  is 
two-storied, —  the  second  stage  consisting  of  arches  half  the 
size  of  those  below,  upon  simple,  slim  pillars;  so  that  it 
forms  a  most  apt  and  gratifying  base  to  the  mighty  square 
shaft,  appropriately  contrasted  by  the  glowing  marble  against 
its  crimson  brick,  the  graceful  arcades  against  its  grim  pon- 
derosity. 

A  third  of  the  way  up  it,  is  spread  an  enormous  clock-face, 
occupying  the  fourth  of  these  stages  into  which  the  shaft 
is  divided  by  recurring  arcaded  cornices  of  terracotta.  The 
sixth  stage  is  marked  by  the  first  window, —  one  on  each 
side, —  a  double-arcaded  gothic  opening  twice  recessed ;  two 
of  them  grace  the  next  division ;  and  in  the  eighth  is  a  win- 
dow of  four  arches,  handsomely  proportioned,  topped  by  a 
little  marble  colonnade  which  serves  as  a  sort  of  frieze  to 
this,  the  main  body  of  the  structure.  Tall  battlements  sur- 
mount the  frieze,  within  which  soars  the  loveliest  portion 
of  the  tower, —  the  two-storied  octagonal  lantern,  richly 
decorated.  To  see  this  —  so  high  is  it  —  I  was  obliged  to 
retreat  for  the  distance  of  a  block.  The  first  story,  the 
belfry  proper,  is  single-arched  upon  each  side,  and  crowned 
by   three   successive   arcaded   cornices   of   white   stone,   upon 


CREMONA  THE  CONTENTIOUS         347 

the  frieze,  parapet,  and  retreating  upper  base;  the  second 
story  is  double-arched,  upon  glistening  coupled  columns, — 
of  marble,  like  all  the  others, —  one  shaft  being  placed  be- 
hind the  other;  and  it  is  topped  by  two  arcaded  white  cor- 
nices, from  the  second  of  which  soars  the  octagonal  brick 
spire.  The  magnificence  of  the  whole  effect  is  created  by 
this  excessive  ornamentation  of  the  lantern,  and  the  colour 
effect  of  the  lustrous  white  colonnades,  arcaded  cornices  and 
parapets,  gleaming  in  the  sunlight  against  the  red-brick  body. 
Just  indeed  was  the  pride  of  the  mediaeval  Cremonese  over 
this  marvellous  creation  in  brick,  which  marked  the  position 
of  their  city  over  a  hundred  miles  of  plain.  Well  indeed 
could  they  chant: 

"  Unus   Petrus    est    in    Roma, 
Una  Turris  in  Cremona." 

Beyond  the  tower's  base  the  Bertazzola  continues  across 
the  facade  of  the  Duomo,  a  single  storey  in  height,  broken 
midway  by  the  huge  projecting  marble  porch  over  the  central 
doorway, —  which  is  a  splendid  structure,  of  peerless  gothic 
beauty.  Its  lofty  pile,  twice  the  height  of  the  arcade,  rests 
upon  two  slender  columns  rising  from  colossal  archaic  lions. 
These  are  of  red  Verona  marble,  crouching  upon  white 
bases;  their  paws  hold  to  earth  a  dragon  and  a  dog,  and 
other  dragons  of  weird  form  clamber  over  their  backs.  They 
are  said  to  have  been  executed  about  1560  by  Sebastiano  da 
Nani,  the  author  also  of  the  statues  surmounting  the  loggia. 
The  porch,  however,  was  constructed  by  Giacomo  Porata  of 
Cremona  about  1274,  when  the  erection  of  the  whole  facade 
was  begun,  and  the  tower  was  just  under  way.  The  inner 
supports  of  the  archway  consist  of  double  consoles  on  each 
side,  overhead,  carved  in  Lombard  fashion  with  uncouth 
squatting  figures  and  ugly  sphinxes;  between  which  recedes 


348  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

the  vast  doorway  proper,  round-arched  but  thoroughly  gothic, 
enclosed  in  ten  or  twelve  successive  mouldings, —  of  most 
impressive  effect.  By  the  jambs  rise  a  couple  of  ornamental 
columns,  very  slender  and  detached,  supported  by  two  more 
little  squatting  figures,  barely  human;  and  upon  the  jambs 
themselves,  facing  each  other,  are  carved  in  high  relief  four 
crude  figures  of  nearly  lifesize,  one  standing  above  another, 
—  the  four  patron  saints  of  Cremona,  Pietro,  Marcellino, 
Imerio  and  Omobuono. 

The  great  archway  of  the  porch  is  symmetrically  crowned 
by  a  second  storey,  half  as  high  again,  consisting  of  a  charm- 
ing loggia  of  three  pointed  arches,  upheld  by  marble  columns 
resting  upon  four  smaller  lions.  In  the  middle  arch  stands 
a  lifesize  statue  of  the  Madonna  holding  her  Child,  and 
gazing  at  Him  with  a  fine  expression  of  maternal  joy;  this 
rests  upon  a  pedestal  carved  with  a  quaint  early  relief  of  a 
bishop  clutching  his  pastoral  staff,  and  blessing  with  a  hand 
large  enough  for  a  giant.  In  the  side  arches  stand  two 
more  saintly  figures,  also  lifesize,  and,  like  the  Madonna,  of 
later  workmanship.  Beneath  them  all,  as  a  sort  of  frieze 
to  the  mighty  arch,  extends  a  delightfully  quaint  procession 
of  little  figures,  in  high  relief,  engaged  in  sowing,  digging, 
pruning,  riding  to  the  chase,  and  other  such  daily  occupa- 
tions; all  wonderfully  well  done  for  a  work  of  the  12th 
or  13th  century. 

Immediately  over  the  porch's  inclined  roof  opens  the 
enormous  and  beautiful  rose-window,  of  rose-tinted  marble, 
which  was  also  designed  by  Giacomo  Porata ;  it  is  very  deeply 
recessed,  and  filled  with  exquisite  regular  tracery,  like  the 
countless  petals  of  a  marguerite.  Just  below  it  the  red  and 
white  fagade  is  crossed  by  two  Lombard  arcaded  galleries, 
with  glistening  marble  shafts,  necessarily  interrupted  in  the 
centre  by  the  top  storey  of  the  porch.     Two  plain  circular 


CREMONA  THE  CONTENTIOUS  349 

windows,  much  smaller,  also  flank  the  porch,  below  the  gal- 
leries; and  two  pairs  of  double-arched  openings,  quite  small, 
flank  the  rose-window.  Above  all  this  rises  the  pyramidal 
summit  of  the  fagade,  which  was  completed  in  the  Renais- 
sance epoch  and  style:  its  side  slopes  consist  of  two  huge 
baroque  scrolls,  holding  in  their  convolutions  large  medal- 
lions with  busts ;  their  upper  ends  are  connected  by  an  arcade 
of  niches,  holding  saintly  statues  of  heroic  size;  over  which 
rises  a  classic  pediment,  with  the  city's  shield  of  arms,  topped 
by  a  curious  baroque  lantern  or  belfry.  This  pinnacle,  how- 
ever, aided  by  the  corner  towers  soaring  from  the  shoulders 
of  the  fagade  —  round  in  form,  and  ending  in  colonnaded 
open  belfries  tipped  by  conical  spires  —  manages  to  counter- 
act the  inharmony  of  the  renaissance  peak;  so  that  it  really 
detracts  very  little  from  the  Lombard-gothic  effect  of  the 
whole.  The  mind  of  the  observer  is  impressed  by  the  facade's 
massive  loftiness,  crested  by  the  spires';  and  his  eye  is  fixed 
by  its  magnificent  Lombard  features, —  the  arcaded  galleries, 
the  great  window,  and  the  splendid  porch. 

The  Cathedral,  begun  in  1107,  was  enclosed  and  conse- 
crated in  1 1 90;  its  front,  as  I  have  said,  was  not  commenced 
till  1274;  and  it  was  70  years  later,  in  1342,  when  the 
edifice  was  augmented  by  the  addition  of  the  enormous  tran- 
septs, so  huge  that  Street  compared  them  to  another  great 
church  laid  across  the  first  one.  The  looming  sides  of  these 
are  visible  from  the  piazza,  also  the  upper  walls  of  the  nave, 
—  all  distinguished  by  their  handsome  decorations  of  Lom- 
bard marble  colonnades.  The  transepts  have  separate 
fagades  and  porches,  of  striking  size  and  impressiveness,  look- 
ing upon  the  streets  and  areas  at  the  sides. 

Traversing  the  arcaded  loggia,  I  observed  in  the  wall  not 
far  to  left  of  the  portal  a  curious  old  Lombard  relief,  of 
Adam  eating  the  apple,  and  the   Expulsion  from  Paradise. 


350  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

Here  also  were  various  ancient  sepulchres  and  fragments  of 
architecture,  including  an  attenuated  archaic  lion,  and  two 
antique  statues.  One  later  sepulchre,  set  high  on  the  wall, 
bore  the  date  1357,  and  was  carved  with  quaint  reliefs  of 
the  Madonna  and  saints.  On  its  left  I  noticed  the  doorway 
to  the  tower,  located  between  it  and  the  Duomo,  enclosed 
in  a  handsome  renaissance  frame,  topped  by  a  statuette,  and 
closed  by  a  finely  wrought  iron  gate.  Turning  back  to  the 
corner  and  walking  down  the  adjacent  street,  I  soon  reached 
the  facade  of  the  northern  transept,  which  towered  over 
the  way  like  a  grim  fortress.  It  was  entirely  of  unpainted 
brick,  except  for  a  few  marble  and  terracotta  details:  divided 
into  three  compartments  by  rectangular,  Lombard  pilaster- 
buttresses,  it  had  three  perfectly  plain,  unfinished  windows 
in  the  first  story,  of  3  and  4  arches  each,  upon  marble  shafts, 
and  three  splendid  rose-windows  near  the  top,  of  cotta  tracery 
and  brick  mouldings,  and  encircled  by  cotta  geometrical  re- 
liefs. 

The  elevated  portal,  approached  by  steps,  was  covered  by 
a  simple  but  dignified  marble  porch,  supported  by  slender 
square  pillars  resting  upon  the  customary  crouching  lions;  to 
this  there  was  no  second  storey;  its  tall  pointed  arch  bore  an 
architrave  of  delicate  relieved  designs,  with  saintly  statuettes 
occupying  the  spandrels;  and  within  was  the  usual  recessed 
doorway,  round-arched,  with  gothic  mouldings.  Upon  its 
lintel  was  cut  in  relief  a  series  of  exceedingly  archaic  figures, 
in  the  peculiar  Lombard  squatting  position,  supposed  to 
represent  the  Saviour  and  the  12  Apostles;  and  seldom  any- 
where have  I  seen  sculpture  so  typically  quaint.  The  gable 
of  the  front  was  distinctly  Lombard,  with  an  oblique  ar- 
caded  frieze  resting  upon  dwarfed  brick  columns  with  very 
crude  capitals,  recessed  in  gallery-form ;  and  from  the  peak 
and   shoulders  rose   three  polygonal   towers,   ending  in  col- 


CREMONA  THE  CONTENTIOUS  351 

onnaded  marble  belfries  and  conical  spires.  This  was  a 
faqade,  as  Mr.  Street  justly  observed,  which  was  "  certainly 
most  remarkable  and  magnificent  in  detail,  though  most 
unreal  and  preposterous  as  a  whole. — They  are  —  both  of 
them,  vast  sham  fronts,  like  the  west  front  in  that  they  con- 
ceal the  structure  of  the  church  behind  them ;  and  are  pierced 
with  numbers  of  windows  which  from  the  very  first  must 
have  been  built  but  to  be  blocked  up. —  And  yet,  there  is  a 
breadth  and  grandeur  of  scale  about  them,  which  goes  far 
to  redeem  their  faults,  and  a  beauty  about  much  of  the  detail 
which  I  cannot  but  admire  extremely." 

The  choir  and  apse  of  the  Duomo,  which  were  erected 
last  of  all,  about  1480,  are  concealed  by  the  closely  sur- 
rounding houses.  From  the  same  Via  Boccaccino,  however, 
a  fine  view  was  afforded  me  of  the  upper  walls  of  nave  and 
transept,  glorified  by  their  lustrous  colonnaded  galleries,  of 
marble  shafts  and  brick  arches,  crowned  by  an  arcaded  ter- 
racotta frieze. — The  street  itself  was  occupied  in  the  morn- 
ings, as  I  later  found,  by  a  sort  of  market,  with  numerous 
stalls  of  fruit,  vegetables,  and  every  kind  of  household  article, 
piled  against  the  walls  of  the  church  and  tower;  a  custom 
and  a  scene  absolutely  unchanged  from  the  far-off  days  of 
the  Visconti. 

On  returning  to  the  Piazza,  I  noticed  its  characteristic 
mediaeval  pavement,  of  small  cobbles  intersected  by  narrow 
paths  of  marble,  which  formed  huge  geometrical  patterns; 
but  my  attention  was  next  claimed  by  the  pleasing  Bap- 
tistery at  the  end,  whose  typical  Lombard  design  contributed 
so  much  to  the  general  effect.  This  edifice,  erected  in  1167, 
was  a  pure  octagonal  drum  of  red  brick,  with  curving,  slim, 
triangular  buttresses  at  the  angles,  having  its  two  principal 
faces  covered  with  marble  slabs ;  these  were  the  northwestern, 
looking  down  the  Piazza,  fronted  to  nearly  half-height  by 


352  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

a  characteristic  Lombard  porch,  and  the  face  adjacent  upon 
its  left.  The  crowning  arcaded  gallery,  running  entirely 
around,  was  round-arched  upon  marble  pillars,  half  a  dozen 
to  a  side;  above  which  opened  a  couple  of  little  circular 
apertures  per  side,  in  lieu  of  a  frieze,  topped  by  a  very  plain 
cornice.  The  low-pitched  octagonal  roof  culminated  in  an 
airy  columned  lantern,  of  renaissance  lightness,  tipped  by 
a  winged  angel  bearing  aloft  the  Cross.  The  windows  were 
truly  romanesque, —  tiny  openings  of  single  or  double  arches, 
not  more  than  one  per  side,  in  each  of  the  three  tiers.  The 
marble  porch  consisted  of  an  undecorated  round  archway, 
upheld  by  a  couple  of  light-red  columns  resting  upon  medi- 
aeval lions  of  the  same  colour,  that  crouched  on  heavy  grey 
bases;  while  the  recessed  doorway  within  was  ornamented 
by  romanesque  spiral  shafts. 

On  looking  now  more  attentively  at  the  two  public  pal- 
aces on  the  right,  which  had  seemed  so  much  alike  in  their 
reddish  colour,  imposing  gothic  arches,  and  battlements,  I 
observed  marked  differences  in  their  construction.  Both 
were  built  in  the  13th  century, —  the  one  in  1245  and  the 
other  in  1292, —  and*  both  are  apparently  of  two  storeys 
only,  though  very  high  storeys;  but  the  first,  the  Palazzo 
Pubblico,  or  Municipio,  is  raised  upon  a  fine  arcaded  loggia, 
of  brick  arches  with  marble  pillars,  and  terracotta  archi- 
traves and  string-courses;  while  the  second,  the  Palazzo  Giuri- 
consulti  (or  law-courts)  has  no  loggia,  but  consists  below 
of  two  huge,  recessed,  brick  arches,  containing  two  storeys 
of  rounded  doorways  and  pointed  windows,  with  handsome 
cotta  ornamentation.  As  for  their  upper  floors:  in  the  former 
palace,  upon  a  shining  marble  parapet,  rise  six  round-arched 
windows,  beautifully  framed  in  terracotta,  surmounted  by 
an  arcaded  brick  frieze;  while  in  the  latter,  are  three  ex- 


CREMONA  THE  CONTENTIOUS  353 

quisitely  formed  gothic  windows,  recessed  in  cotta  mouldings, 
each  containing  three  pointed  arches  with  marble  shafts. 

The  Municipio  is  really  very  much  larger  than  the  other 
building,  being  many  times  as  deep,  extending  back  for  a 
hundred  yards  and  covering  a  full  square  block.  Before  the 
central  pillar  of  its  loggia  I  noticed  a  curious  sort  of  pulpit, 
renaissance  in  form,  and  much  worn  away,  approached  by  a 
little  stairway  at  the  side;  it  was  that  which  had  been  used 
for  centuries  for  the  reading  of  notices,  decrees,  and  ad- 
dresses to  the  assembled  citizens.  Against  the  back  wall 
of  the  loggia  stood  a  fine  bronze  bust  of  Umberto  I,  over- 
topped by  an  outspread  eagle.  The  courtyard  was  simple 
but  graceful,  with  its  surrounding  arcade  of  gothic  brick 
arches,  outlined  by  cotta  mouldings;  and  far  above  on  the 
right  soared  its  slender  square  brick  tower,  to  a  lofty  height. 
The  latter  was  better  seen,  I  found,  from  the  street  upon 
the  right  side ;  where  huge  Roman  stones  were  visible  in 
its  base,  and  scattered  in  the  long  wall  were  all  sorts  of 
windows,  of  every  size  and  shape  and  age, —  the  results  of 
the  countless  changes  of  the  centuries.  They  reminded  me 
that  in  this  very  edifice  had  been  conducted  the  government 
of  Cremona  in  those  far-off  misty  times  of  the  Visconti,  the 
Cavalcabo,  and  Fondulo ;  here  Busso  da  Doara  had  launched 
his  edicts  upon  the  people,  and  Charles  of  Anjou  had  sat 
in  state  to  receive  their  homage.     It  seemed  incredible. 

The  wall  ended  in  another  square  tower,  not  lofty,  beyond 
which  rose  the  later  extension  of  the  palace,  also  of  red  brick, 
with  simple  rounded  windows;  this  faced  southward,  I 
found,  upon  another  wide  square,  the  Piazza  Cavour,  sur- 
rounded by  old  stucco  buildings  of  variegated  hues,  in  pre- 
vailing tints  of  yellow,  drab,  and  brown.  Along  its  south 
and  west  sides  ran  low  arcades,  upon  ancient  columns  of 


354  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

many  kinds,  and  in  the  middle  of  the  north  side  stood  the 
city's  marble  statue  of  Vittorio  Emanuele  II,  on  a  pink 
granite  pedestal. —  From  here  the  Piazza  Pescherie  was  a 
single  block  to  the  southeast,  at  the  other  rear  corner  of 
the  Municipio. —  From  this  corner,  however,  by  all  means  the 
most  striking  sight  was  that  of  the  mighty  Torrazzo,  visible 
straight  up  the  narrow  way  I  had  just  descended,  with  its 
wonderful  red  and  white  peak  glowing  radiantly  in  the 
sinking  sun.  Now  I  could  understand  the  affection  of  the 
Cremonese  for  their  unequalled  tower ;  it  is  ever  present  with 
them,  looking  thus  beautifully  down  upon  every  street  and 
piazza,  investing  the  whole  city  —  as  has  well  been  said  — 
with  a  character,  an  added  dignity,  that  it  would  not  other- 
wise possess. 

Returning  to  the  Piazza,  I  succeeded  in  effecting  en- 
trance to  the  Torrazzo,  and,  laboriously  mounting  its  hun- 
dreds of  winding  steps,  reached  the  lantern  just  as  the  sun 
touched  the  far,  level  horizon.  Ah!  what  a  panorama  of 
the  historic  plain  was  that  now  presented,  wrapped  in  the 
golden  glory  of  the  sunset!  Through  its  shimmering  mantle 
emerged  the  gleaming  white  walls  of  the  compact  city  below, 
topped  by  its  numerous  campanili  of  every  form  and  age, — 
so  many  landmarks  of  the  clustering  memories  of  the  great 
past,  which  endowed  the  scene  with  a  thrilling  picturesque- 
ness  and  a  moving  significance:  those  "  slender  towers,  rising 
like  minarets,  in  every  direction,  in  front  and  behind,  and 
giving  a  marked  resemblance  to  the  mosques  of  the  Mo- 
hammedans." 15  Beyond  the  near  ramparts,  over  the  limit- 
less green  level  whose  verdure  now  glistened  with  a  velvet 
sheen,  soared  other  spires,  uncountable, —  that  vast  company 
of  Lombard  "  fingers  pointing  to  heaven,"  which  have  be- 
stowed  upon   the   plain    its  distinctive  character;   each  one 

15  Lord  Lindsay's  "  Christian  Art." 


CREMONA  THE  CONTENTIOUS  355 

so  mediaeval,  so  beloved  by  the  people  gathered  about  its 
foot,  so  reminiscent  of  their  troubled  centuries,  that  I'amore 
del  campanile  is  the  old  Lombard  phrase  for  love  of  home; 
each  one  the  marking  centre  of  a  town  or  village,  that 
sparkled  refulgent  in  the  emerald  sea,  making  innumerable 
scintillant  dots  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach. 

"  And  oh,  ye  swelling  hills,  and  spacious  plains, 
Besprent  from   shore  to   shore   with   steeple-towers!"16 

Limitless, —  I  said ;  so  it  was  from  east  to  west ;  but  far 
to  north  and  south  the  mighty  bulwarks  of  nature  lifted 
their  giant  forms, —  the  glorious  snow-clad  Alps,  glittering 
in  formidable  peaks  behind  the  foot-hills  where  sat  historic 
Brescia  round  her  citadel, —  and  the  craggy,  countless  sum- 
mits of  the  Apennines,  still  nearer,  glowering  behind  the 
unseen  roofs  of  Parma  and  Piacenza.  But  for  the  golden 
iridescence  the  latter  town  would  be  clearly  visible,  20  miles 
to  the  southwest;  from  it  the  sparkling  Po  came  rolling  its 
grand  and  sinuous  course,  dividing  the  sea  of  greenery  like  a 
serpent  of  silver  scales.  Far  to  the  southeast,  across  30 
miles  of  verdurous  fields,  divided  into  rectangles  by  the  endless 
lines  of  poplars  marking  the  roads,  and  so  covered  with 
trees  as  to  seem  at  this  distance  like  a  veritable  forest, —  surely 
that  was  Parma,  that  clump  of  towers  at  the  foot  of  the 
frowning  Apennines. 

Southward  directly  rose  another  group, —  for  the  air  was 
clear  tonight, —  which  must  mean  Borgo  San  Donnino. 
Northwestward  at  no  greater  distance,  but  hidden  by  the 
sun-glaze,  lay  Lodi  and  Crema,  with  their  treasures  of  art 
and  memory.  Northward  gazing,  I  recalled  that  eventide 
of  many  months  ago,  when  I  had  stood  there  beneath  the 
swelling,  snowy  Alps  on  the  ancient  citadel  of  Brescia,  and 

16  Wordsworth's   "  The  Excursion." 


356  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

looked  vainly  southward  for  a  sight  of  this  same  tower  of  Cre- 
mona,—  the  loftiest  erection  of  mankind  in  Italy.  Inward 
gazing,  I  recalled  that  famous  scene  of  the  Renaissance  which 
on  this  very  summit  that  I  trod  had  taken  place:  that  sight- 
seeing group  of  the  year  1 41 4, —  the  Emperor  Sigismund  and 
the  Pope  John  XXIII,  escorted  by  their  host,  the  blood- 
stained tyrant  Fondulo, —  who  had  climbed  up  here  to  stand 
entranced  by  this  same  panorama  now  spread  around  me  un- 
changed. Then  it  was,  that  into  the  tyrant's  mind  there 
entered  that  terrible  temptation  which  he  confessed  upon 
the  scaffold,  and  which,  though  resisted,  has  shed  such  a  white 
light  on  the  mentality  of  the  Renaissance :  when  asked  before 
the  headsman's  block  to  confess  his  awful  sins,  Fondulo  re- 
plied,— "  I  repent  of  nothing  but  this,  that  when  I  had  the 
Emperor  and  the  Pope  together  at  the  top  of  my  great  tower, 
I  did  not  hurl  them  both  over  the  parapet, —  and  so  gain 
immortal  fame!  " 


CHAPTER  XI 

CREMONA  THE  CAPTIVATING 

"Blessed  be  the  land  that  warms  my  heart, 
And  the  kindly  clime  that  cheers, 
And  the  cordial  faces  free  from  art, 

And  the  tongue  sweet  in  mine  ears; 
Take  my  heart,  its  truest,  tenderest  part, — 
Dear  land,  take  my  tears." 

Christine  G.  Rossetti. 

"  Each  one  sees  what  he  carries  in  his  heart,"  wrote  Goethe. 
To  put  it  in  another  way:  a  traveller  is  one  building  a  fair 
house  in  the  mind;  but  he  must  have  a  stout  framework  of 
knowledge,  before  he  can  lay  on  the  shingles  of  observation. 
Above  all  this  is  true  in  Italy.  It  recurred  to  me  with  a 
new  force  as  I  wandered  about  the  Piazza  and  historic  build- 
ings of  Cremona,  longing  for  a  more  intimate  acquaintance 
with  their  eventful  past,  wishing  that  every  stone  might 
speak  to  tell  me  of  its  memories.  The  same  wish  was  strong 
upon  me  when,  the  morning  after  my  arrival,  I  stood  for 
the  first  time  within  that  wrondrous  fane,  in  whose  heart 
have  been  gathered  for  eight  hundred  years  all  the  aspirations, 
pretensions,  sorrows,  and  surging  passions  for  good  or  evil,  of 
this  vibratory  and  agitated  people. 

Yet  the  first  sight  of  that  interior,  after  the  impressive 
grandeur  of  the  facade,  was  undeniably  disappointing:  for 
the  rounded  arches  flanking  the  nave  were  so  low  as  to  shut 
off  the  view  of  the  church's  true  dimensions,  conceal  the 
spacious  transepts,  and  obscure  much  of  the  aisles;  and  so 
massive  w7ere  the  supporting  columns,  yet  so  perfect  all  the 

357 


358  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

main  proportions,  that  for  some  time  I  could  not  realise  the 
vastness  of  the  structure.  Slowly  came  the  comprehension 
that  the  gothic  vaulted  roof,  with  its  noble  groining,  was  at 
a  giddy  height  above  this  tessellated  marble  pavement;  that 
it  was  a  wide  stretch  from  one  side  wall  to  the  other,  and 
that  the  imposing  apse,  with  its  glory  of  painting,  was  at  a 
long  distance  from  where  I  stood  by  the  entrance. 

The  sensation  of  its  great  age  w7as  quite  wanting,  it  is 
true;  but  now  there  came  in  place  of  it  the  sense  of  those 
innumerable  beauties  with  which  the  ancient  bricks  had  been 
covered, —  countless,  varied,  glowing  colours,  floating  down 
to  me  from  graceful  figures  and  striking  tableaux,  radiating 
from  every  pillar  and  wall-space,  from  the  vaulting  and  the 
apse.  Beneath  this  flood  of  gentle  hues,  I  could  discern 
that  all  vestiges  of  the  original  brickwork  had  been  hidden 
by  stucco,  in  the  renovation  of  1490.  Either  then,  or  sub- 
sequently, the  pillars  had  been  moulded  into  their  present  ugly 
forms,  half  gothic,  half  renaissance, —  clustered  columns  and 
fluted  pilasters,  pressed  together;  but  round  their  bulky  dark- 
grey  shapes  were  draped  an  unbroken  series  of  fine  old  tap- 
estries, of  softest  tints, —  a  delightful  veiling  of  their  defects ; 
which  was  no  temporary  measure,  for  travellers  wrote  of 
seeing  them  thus  nearly  a  century  ago.  Their  connecting  low 
arches,  destitute  of  architrave  or  immediate  cornice,  were 
painted  in  greyish  designs,  and  crowned  by  the  grandest 
frieze  that  man  could  give  them, —  the  great  series  of  fres- 
coes by  the  early  cinquecentists,  running  entirely  around  the 
nave.  Their  infinite  colours,  made  quiet  by  time,  filtered 
through  the  dusk  with  a  united  harmony  impossible  to  de- 
scribe. This  frieze  was  very  broad,  allowing  two  large 
square  tableaux  to  each  bay ;  the  bays  being  divided  by  pilaster- 
strips,  mounting  from  the  caps  of  the  pillars  to  the  general 
cornice  above. 


CREMONA  THE  CAPTIVATING  359 

Over  this  gilded  cornice  extended  the  lofty  triforium- 
gallery  of  the  Lombard  style,  consisting  of  a  series  of  low, 
rounded,  heavy  arches,  two  in  each  bay,  divided  by  short 
stone  columns.  From  just  above  them  sprang  the  ribs  of 
the  roof,  which  was  also  painted,  in  a  general  brown  tone, 
offset  by  gaudy  dark-blue  panels  and  gilt  rosettes  in  the 
cells  of  the  majestic  groining.  The  gothic  vaulting  of  the 
aisles,  but  a  third  as  high  as  that  of  the  nave,  bore  the  faded 
frescoes  of  the  trecento.  The  only  windows,  besides  those 
of  the  fagade  and  apse,  opened  above  the  triforium  arches, 
—  one  to  each  bay,  large  and  pointed.  The  lower  arches 
continued  unbrokenly  into  the  choir,  which  was  raised  two 
or  three  steps,  and  separated  from  the  nave  by  a  small  brass 
railing;  above  this,  on  each  side,  appeared  a  carved  and 
gilded  music-loft,  fastened  across  the  upper  part  of  one  of 
the  arches, —  that  upon  the  left  being  surmounted  by  the 
organ,  which  reached  to  the  roof.  Not  a  sign  nor  a  hint 
was  given  of  the  existence  of  any  transept;  they  had  not 
been  included  in  the  original  romanesque  plan. 

Behind  the  high-altar,  between  the  two  apse  windows, 
glowed  a  magnificent  canvas  in  an  oblong  gilt  frame,  of  re- 
markable size, —  the  celebrated  Assumption  of  Bernardino 
Gatti;  and  the  effect  of  its  warm,  bright  colours,  shining 
down  the  nave,  was  heightened  by  the  six  large  pictures  at  its 
sides  —  two  beneath  the  adjacent  windows,  and  four  stretched 
before  the  final  side  arches  —  filled  with  heroic  figures  and 
radiant  tints.  Under  the  whole  seven  extended  in  a  dark  and 
glistening  curve  the  hemicycle  of  the  choir-stalls,  with  their 
richly  carved  arms  and  head-pieces;  above  them,  in  the  huge 
half-dome,  shone  a  fresco  of  astonishing  magnitude,  represent- 
ing the  throned  Christ  in  glory,  in  a  burst  of  dazzling  sun 
rays  and  thunderbolts,  surrounded  by  the  four  standing  figures 
of  Cremona's  patron  saints, —  all  of  them  forms  of  colossal 


360  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

height,  vividly  coloured  in  soft  blues  and  gold.  It  was 
Boccaccio's  most  famous  fresco,  done  in  1506.  The  Christ 
was  of  startling  power  and  majesty,  increased  by  the  splen- 
did perspective  of  the  Heaven  of  rolling  white  clouds  behind, 
which  glistened  roundabout  Him  with  a  wonderful,  trans- 
parent effulgence  from  the  hidden  throne  of  the  Almighty. 

The  choir,  having  been  erected  in  Renaissance  days,  was 
consequently  round-arched  in  its  vaulting,  which  left  a  tri- 
angular lunette  between  the  beginning  of  that  vaulting  and 
the  higher,  pointed  roof  of  the  nave;  and  here,  surmounting 
the  triumphal  arch,  glowed  a  charming  fresco  of  the  An- 
nunciation, full  of  grace  and  sweetness,  in  the  more  quiet, 
devotional  manner  of  Boccaccino.  On  turning  to  the  en- 
trance-wall, I  saw  three  more  enormous  paintings  of  the 
first  order:  above  the  doorway  was  a  Crucifixion,  one  of  the 
largest  in  the  world,  and  lower  down  on  the  left  and  right, 
were  the  Deposition  and  the  Resurrection;  the  first  two 
by  Pordenone,  the  last  by  Bern.  Gatti.  I  was,  then,  facing 
the  masterpieces  in  fresco  of  both  those  renowned  mas- 
ters. Yet  Pordenone's, —  in  spite  of  their  fame,  and 
their  transcendent  abilities  shown  in  the  modelling  of  the 
human  figure,  of  their  forcefulness,  and  significance  of  dra- 
matic action  and  expression, —  did  not  impress  me  with  any 
great  favour;  they  were  overcrowded  with  giant  forms,  too 
vehement  in  gesture  and  movement,  too  ill  ordered  in  com- 
position and  frenzied  in  feeling.  They  were  imposing  by 
the  very  force  of  their  surging  passions,  it  is  true,  and  are 
unquestionably  supreme  accomplishments  in  the  bold  and 
vigorous  handling  of  the  nude,  and  in  all  the  arts  of  realistic 
execution.  Their  foreshortening  is  celebrated;  in  the  Dep- 
osition, or  Pieta,  the  nude  figure  of  the  Christ  lies  stretched 
upon  the  ground  directly  away  from  the  observer, —  a 
position    of    extraordinary    daring,    yet   which    the    master's 


CREMONA  THE  CAPTIVATING  361 

genius  has  safely  carried  through.  Gatti's  Resurrection, 
however,  is  a  very  grand  work,  superior  in  most  of  the 
points  that  constitute  the  best  painting:  it  is  dignified,  bal- 
anced, noble  in"  composition  and  bearing,  graceful  in  its 
forms  and  gestures,  accurate  in  its  drawing,  and  pleasing  in 
its  quiet  expressiveness  and  sentiment.  No  other  evidence  is 
needed,  to  confirm  his  place  as  a  master  of  the  first  rank. 

Next  I  began  the  examination  of  the  great  frieze, — ■ 
which  Lanzi  had  in  mind  when  he  ranked  this  edifice  with 
the  Sistine  Chapel  in  historic  and  artistic  value ;  and  I  ob- 
served at  once  how  strongly  spaced  and  composed  were  the 
first  tableaux  on  the  left  side,  how  grandly  posed  and  draped 
were  the  figures,  with  what  an  exceeding  grace  of  form  and 
grouping,  what  a  delightful  harmony  of  hues,  however 
faded ;  and  it  was  no  wonder,  for  these  were  the  works  of 
Boccaccino.  How  beautifully  contrasted  were  they,  in  their 
noble  simplicity,  from  the  opposite  panels  of  Pordenone  on 
the  right  side,  where  crowds  and  passions  surged,  and  frenzy 
of  action  raged.  They  represented  successively:  the  angel 
speaking  to  Joachim  as  he  wandered  in  the  fields;  the  meet- 
ing of  Joachim  and  Anna, —  with  truly  majestic  figures, 
finely  backgrounded;  the  birth  of  the  Virgin,  realistic  in  its 
homely  details;  her  marriage,  amidst  an  impressive  gather- 
ing, full  of  feeling;  the  Annunciation;  the  visitation  of  her 
mother;  her  adoration  of  the  Child,  finely  designed  and 
teeming  with  tenderest  sentiment;  and  the  coming  of  the 
Magi, —  unfortunately  too  faded  to  be  decipherable. 

Next  came  the  two  contributions  by  Gian  Fran.  Bembo, 
in  his  somewhat  more  advanced  style, —  the  Magi,  again, 
and  the  Presentation  in  the  Temple;  then  two  by  Altobello 
Melone,  still  more  advanced,  more  crowded,  and  more  ex- 
cited,—  the  Flight  into  Egypt,  and  the  Massacre  of  the 
Innocents;    and    lastly,    in    striking    contrast    to    Melone's 


362  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

frenzy,  Boccaccino's  double-size  panel,  the  Christ  teaching 
in  the  Temple, —  replete  with  dignity,  even  grandeur,  of 
form  and  disposition.  Here  in  the  choir  I  had  a  near  view 
of  Gatti's  tremendous  Assumption, —  the  last  work  of  II 
Soiaro,  executed  by  him  when  over  80  years  of  age,  and  in 
fact  interrupted  by  the  paralytic  stroke  which  ultimately 
caused  his  death.  After  that  affliction  he  courageously 
learned  to  use  his  left  hand,  and  painted  in  several  more 
figures  before  he  died;  it  is  therefore  still  unfinished,  but  that 
hardly  detracts  from  its  splendour  of  composition,  form  and 
colour,  animated  by  a  height  of  sentiment  seldom  reached 
by  any  artist.  On  its  left  was  Antonio  Campi's  Healing 
of  the  Centurion's  Son,  of  excellent  expression  in  the  princi- 
pal figures,  with  the  painter  himself  introduced  on  the  left, 
looking  like  a  fat,  boyish  buffoon ;  on  its  right  was  Bern. 
Campi's  Entry  into  Jerusalem,  with  a  throng  of  spectators 
in  cinquecento  costume, —  clearly  portraits  of  prominent  Cre- 
monese ;  both  of  these  frescoes  were  in  very  light  tone  and 
colouring.  In  contrast  were  the  vividly  hued  modern  can- 
vases, two  on  each  side,  before  the  last  archways, —  by 
Diotti. 

Overhead  on  the  right  the  great  frieze  here  recom- 
menced with  Melone's  excellent  tableau  of  the  Last  Sup- 
per, of  double  width,  finely  composed,  with  a  godlike,  radiant 
figure  of  the  Christ;  his  four  following  scenes  —  of  Christ 
washing  the  Disciples'  feet,  praying  on  the  Mount  of  Olives, 
being  taken  by  the  Soldiery,  and  appearing  before  Caiaphas 
—  were  not  nearly  so  good,  either  in  general  disposition  or 
in  individual  figures  and  expression.  There  succeeded  the 
two  frescoes  whose  authorship  has  been  so  much  disputed, — 
the  Christ  before  Pilate,  and  the  Flagellation ;  Lanzi  said 
that  Cristoforo  Moretti  unquestionably  painted  them,  in 
which  he  has  been  supported  by  many  authorities;  Crowe 


CREMONA  THE  CAPTIVATING  363 

and  Cavalcasalle,  on  the  other  hand,  and  likewise  Mr. 
Berenson,  have  ascribed  them  to  Romanino,  who  is  said  to 
have  placed  four  pictures  in  this  Duomo  between  15 19  and 
1520.  On  closely  studying  these  tableaux  I  noticed  — 
what  must  be  patent  to  any  observer  —  the  marked  differ- 
ence in  style  of  the  first  one,  the  Christ  before  Pilate,  from 
the  other,  and  from  the  following  two  scenes,  as  to  which 
Romanino's  title  is  not  questioned;  it  is  more  dignified  in 
spacing  and  pose,  more  natural  yet  graceful  in  composition 
and  form,  more  excellent  in  perspective  and  charming  in 
colour, —  in  a  word,  generally  superior  to  the  other  three, 
which  are  alike  in  their  disordered  crowds  of  unreal  people, 
improperly  garbed  in  the  fanciful  costumes  and  plumed  hats 
of  the  cinquecento.  As  the  Christ  before  Pilate  is  evidently 
by  another  hand,  and  as  it  is  certain  that  Moretti  painted 
upon  this  frieze,  I  believe  the  picture  to  have  been  his  work; 
and  it  demonstrates  that  he  had  genius  of  a  high  order.  Of 
the  three  Romaninos,  the  last  two  represented  Christ  crowned 
with  thorns,  and  His  mockery  by  the  soldiers. 

Pordenone's  smaller  frescoes  were  next  reached, —  smaller 
compared  with  his  colossal  scenes  on  the  entrance-wall,  but 
double  the  size  of  the  ordinary  panels  of  the  frieze,  and 
filling  the  last  three  bays  of  the  right  wall,  toward  the  front. 
They  depict  Christ  before  Pilate,  Christ  and  St.  Veronica, 
and  the  Nailing  to  the  Cross;  and  are  of  quite  the  same  ex- 
treme characteristics  as  his  larger  works,  being  wonderful 
for  their  dramatic  action  and  expression,  which,  though  not 
pleasing,  bring  forcibly  home  to  the  observer  the  full  horror 
of  the  great  Tragedy,  as  he  perhaps  has  never  felt  it  before. 

To  the  last  pillars  of  the  nave  before  the  choir  are  affixed 
two  pulpits,  each  raised  upon  six  marble  columns,  and  adorned 
with  four  marble  reliefs  transferred  from  an  old  altar, — 
the  work  of  Amadeo.     That  master  was  here  for  awhile, 


364  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

about  1490,  engaged  upon  a  shrine  for  the  Egyptian  martyrs, 
Mario,  Marta,  Abacone  and  Andifaccio;  which  was  duly 
finished,  and  long  admired  by  the  world  in  the  local  church 
of  S.  Lorenzo.  When  that  edifice  was  demolished,  the 
shrine  was  also,  leaving  only  the  eight  reliefs  surviving; 
which  have  been  thus  preserved  for  posterity  by  insertion  in 
the  Duomo's  pulpits.  They  represent,  firstly,  the  Roman 
Emperor  Claudius  giving  orders  from  his  throne  for  the 
execution  of  the  four  Christians,  who  stand  before  him  with 
vainly  beseeching  hands,  guarded  by  several  delightfully 
Mantegnesque  soldiers;  and,  after  that,  the  various  tortures 
with  which  their  martyrdom  was  effected.  Here  are  in  evi- 
dence all  the  peculiarities  of  Amadeo's  manner, —  the  elon- 
gated and  extremely  slender  limbs,  the  cadaverous  heads  with 
sharply  defined  bones  and  neck-tendons,  and  the  cartaceous 
draperies,  that  "  form  a  series  of  delicate  lines  (or  rather 
ridges)  which  cross  and  recross  each  other  like  the  meshes 
of  a  spider's  web."  1  Yet  they  are  charming,  these  marble 
scenes  "  in  the  pictorial  style  of  Ghiberti,"  full  of  grace  in 
their  composition  and  figures,  and  of  stirring  sentiment  in 
their  expressive  faces. 

Under  the  near-by  altar,  well  to  the  front  of  the  choir, 
I  observed  with  interest  the  body  of  S.  Omobuono,  exposed 
behind  a  sheet  of  glass;  it  was  dressed  in  most  elaborate 
gold-embroidered  robes  and  slippers,  with  the  skeleton-head 
quite  bare,  its  jaw  horribly  fastened  by  a  piece  of  wire.  Ac- 
corded this  pre-eminent  place  in  the  temple  by  reason  of  his 
being  the  city's  chief  protector,  in  the  Catholic  mind,  Omo- 
buono in  his  lifetime,  oddly  enough,  was  neither  a  bishop 
nor  an  ecclesiastic,  but  a  simple  tailor, —  of  whose  guild  he 
is  therefore  the  patron.  Having  "  ordered  his  affairs  so  well 
that  he  became  very  prosperous,  all  his  money  he  spent  in 

1  Perkins'  "  Italian  Sculptors." 


CREMONA  THE  CAPTIVATING  365 

doing  good  to  the  sick  and  poor. —  Once,  while  travelling 
with  his  family,  he  gave  their  whole  store  of  provisions  to  a 
company  of  starving  pilgrims,  but  found  afterwards  that 
angels  had  replenished  his  wallet  with  bread  and  wine.  S. 
Omobuono  died  in  peace,  while  kneeling  in  prayer  before  the 
crucifix  in  the  church  of  S.  Egidio."  2 

Turning  my  attention  to  the  aisles,  I  examined  the  few 
remains  upon  their  vaulting  of  the  frescoes  with  which  they 
were  covered,  about  1350,  by  the  primitive  Polidoro  Casella, 
and  which  Lord  Lindsay  considers  a  revival  of  the  early 
Roman  school,  labelling  them  "  very  curious, —  quite  unlike 
either  the  Giottesque  or  the  Byzantine  manner."  "  The 
compositions  " —  he  adds  — "  are  chiefly  from  the  patriarchal 
history.  The  colouring  and  drapery  are  very  peculiar ;  some 
of  the  figures  are  distinguished  by  a  naivete  and  simplicity 
which  occasionally  rises  towards  dignity;  but  upon  the  whole 
they  are  inferior,  and  even  below  par  in  point  of  mechanical 
excellence."  3 —  The  altars  in  the  aisles  are  against  the  walls, 
in  very  shallow  recesses,  and  their  anconas  or  palas  are  mostly 
of  the  late  Renaissance,  and  of  little  value;  the  exception  be- 
ing the  beautiful  canvas  by  Pordenone  over  the  first  altar  to 
right, —  a  Madonna  and  saints  in  his  best  pietistic  style,  so 
astonishingly  different  from  his  dramatic  methods,  as  here 
evidenced ;  this  picture  is  rich  in  tone  and  colouring,  and  of 
exquisite  grace.  It  hardly  seems  possible  that  it  could  have 
been  executed  by  the  same  hand  that  wrought  those  huge 
and  violent  frescoes,  antipodal  in  every  quality.  The  sec- 
ond altars  hold  two  seicentist  wooden  anconas,  richly  carved 
and  painted  white;  that  on  the  left  being  by  Bertesi  da  Cre- 
mona (1670),  and  that  on  right, —  a  really  fine  and  lifelike 
representation  of  St.  Eusebius  raising  a  dead  person  to  life  — 

2  E.  A.  Greene's  "  Saints  and  their  Symbols." 

3  Lindsay's  "  Christian  Art,"  Vol.  I. 


366  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

by  Arighi  da  Cremona.  The  third  altars  are  decorated  with 
two  canvases  by  Luca  Catapane,  of  the  close  of  the  cinque- 
cento, —  one  of  the  ablest  of  the  local  decadents. 

Beyond  that  on  the  left  I  came  suddenly  into  the  northern 
transept,  apparently  twice  the  height  of  the  nave  itself,  be- 
cause narrower,  but  similar  in  pillars,  aisles,  triforium,  and 
gothic  vaulting,  with  gothic  windows  and  portals  in  the  end 
wall.  To  an  unprepared  visitor  it  would  be  astonishing 
indeed  thus  to  stumble  unexpectedly  upon  another  great  edi- 
fice, quite  concealed,  and  disconnected, —  save  for  the  low 
archway  to  the  nave  by  the  music-loft.  Several  altars  were 
attached  to  each  of  its  side  walls,  with  most  decorative  palas. 
The  last  upon  the  eastern  side  was  a  very  lovely  Madonna 
and  saints  by  Bernardino  Ricca,  who  is  said  to  have  been  a 
pupil  of  Perugino;  and  this  panel,  though  damaged,  cer- 
tainly exhibited  a  truly  Umbrian  tenderness  and  pietism, 
with  a  charmingly  soft,  golden  tone.  Adjacent  upon  the  end 
wall  was  a  marble  relief  in  the  style  of  Amadeo,  under  glass, 
—  a  panel  detached  from  the  sarcophagus  containing  the 
bodies  of  Saints  Peter  and  Marcellinus,  which  reposes  in  the 
crypt.  It  represents  a  bishop,  doubtless  one  of  those  two 
saints,  giving  food  to  the  starving  poor  during  a  famine  or 
pestilence.  Its  authorship,  and  that  of  the  other  five  panels 
still  attached  to  the  sarcophagus,  have  been  much  disputed ; 
they  have  been  assigned  by  the  differing  authorities  to  vari- 
ous disciples  of  Amadeo,  including  Giov.  Batt.  Malojo  of 
Cremona,  Juan  Domenigo  of  Vercelli,  Benedetto  Briosco, 
and  Geremia  of  Cremona;  but  Mr.  Perkins,  probably  the 
best  authority,  states  that  they  must  either  have  been  executed 
by  Amadeo  himself,  or  at  least  by  pupils  "  working  under  his 
eye  and  carrying  out  his  designs. —  Classical  tastes,"  he  con- 
tinues — "  rejects  such  pictorial  treatment  in  marble ;  but 
as  we  accept  the  license  with  a  protest  in  Ghiberti's  case,  we 


CREMONA  THE  CAPTIVATING  367 

may  do  so  in  that  of  Amadeo;  for  his  also  is  a  master- 
hand."  4 

On  two  other  altars  against  the  eastern  wall  here,  stand 
two  brilliant  canvases  by  the  Campi, —  the  Pieta  by  Antonio, 
containing  a  strange,  ugly-postured  Christ,  but  with  its  idea 
well  carried  out,  and  Giulio's  St.  Michael  slaying  the  dragon. 
Against  the  back  of  the  organ-loft,  in  the  archway  leading 
to  the  nave,  hangs  a  superb  canvas  by  Boccaccino,  this  time 
easily  to  be  studied,  and  revealing  all  that  great  master's 
surpassing  qualities, —  which  ought  to  be  far  better  appre- 
ciated by  the  general  public:  it  depicts  the  Crucifixion,  after 
the  death  of  Christ,  with  Sts.  Mary,  John  and  Magdalen 
gathered  sorrowfully  waiting  underneath ;  the  Cross  outlined 
against  an  extraordinary  bare  background,  of  autumnal  land- 
scape with  naked  trees,  which  in  its  wide  extent  of  empty 
space  superbly  emphasizes  the  gloom  of  the  Tragedy  and  sets 
forth  the  misery  of  the  lifelike  figures.  A  tremendous  work 
is  this,  in  its  daring  originality  of  conception,  its  fine  execu- 
tion, and  depth  of  feeling;  while  all  the  four  forms  are  dis- 
tinguished by  their  beauty  of  modelling,  pose,  and  tender 
expression.  It  is  unfortunate  that  neither  Venice  nor  Milan 
has  any  work  of  Boccaccino's  on  this  high  plane. 

Near  it  opens  the  chapel  upon  the  left  side  of  the  choir, 
which  is  really  the  continuation  of  the  left  aisle,  and  conse- 
quently very  deep.  It  contains  a  group  of  pleasing  canvases: 
two  excellent  specimens  of  Malosso, —  the  Ascension  and  the 
Pentecost,  showing  how  nearly  he  approached  to  the  cinque- 
centist  purity  of  line ;  two  of  Antonio  Campi, —  St.  John 
the  Baptist,  and  the  Baptist  before  H'erodias  and  Salome; 
and  three  of  Giulio's  delightful  compositions, —  the  Birth  of 
the  Baptist,  his  Baptism  of  Jesus,  and  Salome  with  the  sev- 
ered head. —  On  the  opposite,  western  side  of  this  transept  lies 

4  Perkins'  "Italian  Sculptors." 


368  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

the  sacristy;  into  which  I  was  admitted  by  the  verger,  and 
shown,  in  one  of  its  presses,  the  great  silver  crucifix  of  the 
Cathedral.  This  was  not  a  work  of  the  gothic  period,  but  a 
Renaissance  construction,  having  been  executed  about  1478  by 
Ambrogio  da  Pozzi  and  Agostino  de'  Sacchis,  of  Milan.  It 
stood  upon  a  modern  base,  by  Monfredini, —  fully  three  and  a 
half  metres  in  height,  all  told ;  and  was  ornamented  with  the 
customary  wealth  of  minute  sculpture  over  every  part  of  its 
surface,  especially  about  the  upright,  including  amidst  the 
variegated  designs  an  extraordinary  number  of  little  figures 
of  angels,  puttini,  and  saints.  From  the  lower  part  of  the 
upright  diverged  two  additional,  curving  arms  like  cande- 
labra, purely  for  ornament,  holding  on  their  tops  the  figures 
of  St.  John  and  the  Madonna,  almost  as  large  as  the  Sa- 
viour's, and  standing  just  below  Him.  It  is  undeniably  a 
marvel  of  the  goldsmith's  art,  with  few  equals  in  size;  and 
should  not  be  missed  by  any  visitor.  In  the  same  room  I 
saw  22  mediaeval  choir-books,  handsomely  illustrated. 

I  paused  again  in  the  choir,  to  examine  the  beautiful  sculp- 
tured stalls,  which  were  carved  at  the  same  time  as  the  cruci- 
fix, by  Giov.  Maria  Platina,  with  inlaying  by  Pietro  della 
Tarsia;  Perkins  insists  that  the  brothers  Campi  lent  their  as- 
sistance, and  it  may  be  so.  Then  I  stepped  into  the  Chapel  of 
the  Host, —  the  prolongation  of  the  right  aisle  —  which  was 
decorated  by  the  Campi  with  another  series  of  glowing  pic- 
tures: by  Antonio  were  the  Last  Supper,  and  the  Magdalen 
washing  Jesus'  feet, —  the  former  a  bright,  clear,  striking 
composition,  with  a  very  noble  Christ;  by  Giulio  were  the 
Raising  of  Lazarus,  the  Multiplication  of  the  Loaves  and 
Fishes,  the  Magdalen  again,  and  her  Repentance, —  the  latter 
a  hazy  scene  with  marked  chiaroscuro. 

The  south  transept,  now  entered,  proved  to  be  quite  sim- 
ilar to  the  other,  except  for  the  use  of  the  round  arch  instead 


CREMONA  THE  CAPTIVATING  369 

of  the  gothic ;  which  made  it  much  less  handsome.  Over  the 
low  entrance-arch  hung  a  large  and  curious  picture  by  Ant. 
Campi,  which,  though  undivided,  represented  three  separate 
events, —  the  death  of  Haman,  the  supplication  of  Esther, 
and  the  triumph  of  Mordecai.  Near  it,  against  the  organ- 
back,  stood  an  interesting  marble  ancona  of  the  quattrocento, 
which  once  belonged  to  a  former  altar  dedicated  to  S.  Nicolo ; 
its  three  main  compartments,  divided  by  ornate  pilasters, 
contained  the  figures  in  bas-relief  of  Sts.  Damiano,  Nicolo 
and  Omobuono,  "  simply  composed,  and  draped  in  broadly 
disposed  folds  " ; 5  above  these,  in  the  pediment,  was  a  strange 
half-figure  of  the  Saviour  rising  from  the  tomb,  of  remarkable 
ugliness;  the  arabesque-decorations,  on  the  contrary,  were 
very  tasteful  and  pretty.  Tommaso  (or  Formato)  Amici 
was  one  of  its  sculptors,  and  Francesco  Majo  (or  F.  Mabilo 
de  Mazo)  was  the  other. 

Three  more  specimens  of  Malosso  s  vvork  decorated  this 
transept:  one  over  the  last  altar  on  the  east  side,  another  —  a 
strong  picture  of  the  bound  Christ  —  hanging  on  a  pilaster 
near-by,  and  the  third,  an  Annunciation  in  two  pieces,  hang- 
ing upon  the  end  wall.  Best  of  all  was  the  charming  Visita- 
tion by  Gervasio  Gatti,  the  first  of  his  work  I  had  found, 
standing  over  the  first  altar  on  the  west;  the  figures,  though 
over  lifesize,  were  superbly  moulded  and  lifelike,  and  expres- 
sive of  the  tenderest  emotion.  After  inspecting  it  with  pleas- 
ure, I  descended  into  the  crypt,  which  was  spacious  and  very 
dark,  and  filled  with  the  usual  rows  of  columns,  some  of 
which  were  finely  twisted  in  spiral  curves.  A  candle  was 
necessary  to  examine  the  various  shrines,  devoted  to  all  the 
saints  of  Cremona,  placed  around  the  walls  at  regular  inter- 
vals; some  of  the  urns  were  beautifully  adorned,  with  foli- 
ated reliefs  and  charming  putti.  .  The  sarcophagus  of  Sts. 

6  Perkins'  "  Italian  Sculptors." 


370  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

Peter  and  Marcellinus  stood  upon  the  high-altar;  and  I  had 
the.  enjoyment  of  observing  closely  the  remaining  five  reliefs 
of  Amadeo,  depicting  scenes  from  their  lives, —  which,  of 
course,  were  in  the  same  cartaceous  but  graceful  manner  as 
the  one  upstairs.  I  incline,  however,  to  the  belief  that  their 
execution  was  by'  the  hands  of  assistants ;  for  they  are  certainly 
not  up  to  the  high  level  of  Amadeo's  work  elsewhere. 

Another  day  was  begun  by  a  visit  to  the  Baptistery.  Its 
lofty  octagonal  drum  proved  to  be,  within,  of  most  imposing 
effect;  the  brick  walls,  clear  of  incumbrances,  rose  majes- 
tically to  a  far  height,  pierced  only  by  the  little,  double- 
arched,  romanesque  windows,  that  but  slightly  relieved  the 
gloom ;  and  they  were  decorated  only  by  three  brick  cornices 
of  the  arcaded,  romanesque  model;  in  the  centre  of  the  dome 
was  visible  a  lantern,  so  tiny  that  it  gave  the  impression  of  a 
dizzy  height.  Roundabout  the  spacious  floor  extended  a 
series  of  ornamental  brick  arches,  three  per  side,  on  support- 
ing marble  columns  about  fifteen  feet  high,  with  crude  foliated 
capitals.  Four  of  them,  on  the  diagonal  sides,  contained 
single,  round-arched  windows;  three  others  contained  altars, 
at  the  right,  left  and  rear, —  the  latter  surmounted  by  an  old 
wooden  crucifix,  surrounded  by  mourning  saints  frescoed  on 
the  wall.  A  single  picture  was  present,  a  canvas  of  the 
Campi  representing  the  Baptism  of  Christ,  hanging  upon  the 
northeastern  wall.  In  the  centre  stood  the  ancient  octag- 
onal font,  of  red  Verona  marble,  upon  a  larger  base  of  the 
same  form.  Thus  perfectly  simple,  and  practically  un- 
adorned, this  ideal  romanesque  edifice  of  the  dark  I2th  cen- 
tury, from  the  pure  harmony  of  its  lines  and  the  majesty  of 
its  proportions,  bestows  a  sense  of  power  and  solemnity  such 
as  is  very  seldom  found, —  the  true  religious  effect  aimed  at 
by  the  romanesque  architects,  and  which  but  one  other  style, 
the  gothic,  really  attained.     In  such  a  structure,  too,  as  no- 


CREMONA  THE  CAPTIVATING  371 

where  else,  does  one  realise  the  full  dignity  and  impressive- 
ness  to  which  simple  brickwork  may  rise. 

Crossing  to  the  Palazzo  Publico,  and  securing  an  attendant 
as  guide,  I  mounted  by  the  main  stairway  in  the  southeastern 
angle  of  the  courtyard  to  its  grand  suite  of  rooms  on  the 
piano  nobile,  running  across  the  fagade.  Arching  the  en- 
trance to  the  southern  chamber,  the  Sala  Grande,  stood  a 
magnificent  marble  portal,  sculptured  in  the  elaborately  deli- 
cate manner  of  the  Milanese  artists  of  the  late  quattrocento. 
Nothing  more  beautiful,  more  satisfying,  could  be  conceived ; 
its  proportions  are  perfect,  its  decorations  tasteful  and  not 
too  lavish.  The  recessed  archway,  about  12  feet  high,  holds 
in  shallow  niches  upon  its  receding  supports  two  charming 
youthful  figures  in  high  relief,  of  renaissance  garb,  about  half 
of  lifesize;  the  folds  of  whose  draperies  have  a  sufficiently 
cartaceous  quality  to  indicate  that  the  author  was  either 
Amadeo  himself,  or  one  of  his  pupils.  The  slender  grace 
and  lifelike  moulding  of  these  figures ;  the  design  of  the  whole 
portal  and  its  different  parts,  so  very  similar  to  Amadeo's 
doorways  at  the  Certosa;  the  beautiful  series  of  winged 
cherubs'  heads  adorning  the  face  of  the  arch  proper,  to 
whose  use  he  was  so  partial ;  the  medallions  with  fine  Roman 
heads,  held  by  sphinxes,  in  the  narrow  but  rich  frieze  of  con- 
voluted foliage, —  another  of  his  addictions;  the  highly 
finished  beauty  of  the  arabesques,  candelabra,  and  columns  of 
Roman  arms,  ornamenting  the  pilasters  framing  the  arch, 
as  well  as  its  inner  moulding ;  the  balance,  restraint,  and 
superb  execution  of  every  feature  and  detail,  of  which  none 
but  a  great  master  could  have  been  capable ;  —  all  of  these 
things  together  point  so  cumulatively  and  insistently  to 
Amadeo  himself,  as  the  only  artist  fulfilling  all  their  require- 
ments, that  to  me  at  least  there  remains  not  the  slightest 
doubt  of  his  authorship  of  this  exquisite  treasure. 


372  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

Within  the  Sala  Grande,  at  its  northern  end,  my  eyes 
met  another  and  larger  archway  of  the  Renaissance,  of  no- 
ble proportions  and  beautiful  decoration ;  but  this  time  it  was 
only  a  plaster  model,  taken  from  a  locally  celebrated  portal 
in  one  of  Cremona's  private  palaces,  which  has  been  removed 
to  Paris.  Around  the  walls  hung  a  number  of  pleasing  can- 
vases: the  Falling  of  the  Manna,  by  Casaglio  (1590)  and  the 
Multiplication  of  the  loaves  and  fishes,  by  Miradori  of 
Genoa  (both  very  large  works)  ;  the  Doubting  of  St. 
Thomas,  by  Giulio  Campi ;  the  Visitation,  by  Antonio 
Campi, —  unusually  fine;  the  Madonna  with  three  Domin- 
icans, by  Crosaccio, —  richly  toned ;  and  a  large,  joint  compo- 
sition of  the  Campi,  the  Sacrifice  of  Abraham,  of  striking  ex- 
pressiveness and  beauty.  In  an  adjoining  smaller  room  hung 
a  good  Malosso,  a  large  Annunciation  and  a  Madonna  and 
saints  by  Soiaro,  and  an  oddly  drawn  fresco  said  to  be  brought 
from  the  Vatican,  showing  Platina  before  Pope  Sixtus  IV. 
The  third  front  chamber  proved  to  be  the  city  council-hall, 
with  rows  of  seats  semicircularly  arranged. 

Returning  to  my  starting-point,  the  guard  room,  through 
another  beautiful  marble  doorway  opposite  the  first  men- 
tioned, which  was  of  the  same  period  and  very  prettily 
adorned  with  columns  and  reliefs, —  I  found  there  another 
picture  by  Gatti,  fairly  good,  representing  the  Martyrdom 
of  S.  Lorenzo.  In  the  chamber  of  the  city-administrator, 
in  the  northwestern  corner  of  the  building,  I  was  shown  the 
celebrated  mantel  by  Giovanni  Gaspare  Pedoni  (1502)  — 
the  native  sculptor  of  independent  ideas  whom  Vasari  la- 
belled a  "  finissimo  lavorator'e  di  marmo."  In  form  it  is 
simple,  consisting  of  a  narrow  lintel  supported  by  two  slen- 
der, grooved  columns  with  ionic  caps,  the  latter  of  white  and 
the  former  of  red  marble ;  the  cornice  is  very  rich,  and  under 
it  extends  the  frieze  which  gave  Pedoni's  name  to  lasting 


CREMONA  THE  CAPTIVATING  373 

fame.  It  is  one  marvellous  mass  of  the  most  intricate  and 
delicate  arabesques,  unequalled  in  their  fertility  of  fancy  and 
minute  execution,  yet  well  balanced  and  arranged.  Through- 
out the  vine-like  tracery  appear  countless  forms  uniquely 
combining  oddity  with  grace,  including  birds,  beasts  and  rep- 
tiles of  mythological  grotesqueness,  winged,  compounded  to- 
gether, or  adorned  with  human  heads;  while  in  the  centre, 
held  by  mermaids,  is  a  wreathed  medallion  of  exceeding 
charm,  whose  dainty  relief  shows  the  saint  in  prison  that  was 
fed  by  his  daughter  as  a  babe,  with  the  jailor  standing  near; 
—  perfect  little  figures,  of  remarkable,  lifelike  modelling. 
On  the  left  side  is  another  medallion,  containing  a  portrait 
head  of  Gian.  Giacomo  Trivulzio,  the  French  governor  of 
Milan.  That  on  the  right  side  is  unfinished,  because  Pe- 
doni  died  before  its  completion. 

Over  this  mantel  I  noticed  an  exceptionally  fine  canvas  of 
Giulio  Campi's,  showing  Giov.  Baldessio  returning  as  a  vic- 
tor from  a  battle  with  the  Milanese  troops,  which  secured 
the  release  of  the  Cremonese  from  tribute, —  with  the  public 
buildings  of  the  city  in  the  background.  Two  excellent 
paintings  by  Jacopo  Bassano  were  here,  also:  Christ  seized 
by  the  soldiers,  and  about  to  be  crucified, —  both  powerfully 
treated  and  dramatic,  with  his  usual  strong  light-effects. 

That  afternoon  I  wTalked  around  the  rear  of  the  Baptistery, 
and  to  the  sequestered  little  piazza  on  its  eastern  side,  ad- 
jacent to  the  southern  side  of  the  Duomo ;  occupying  a  part 
of  the  ground  once  covered  by  the  Cathedral  burying-plot, 
and  hence  still  called  the  Campo  Santo.  The  old  buildings 
upon  the  south  of  the  area  formerly  constituted  a  portion  of 
the  close,  and  are  still  connected  with  the  Duomo  by  an 
archway  at  the  eastern  end,  leading  to  a  large  structure  that 
projects  from  beside  the  transept ;  under  the  archway  extends 
a  public  passage  to  the  beginning  of  several  important,  di- 


374  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

verging  streets  of  the  eastern  quarter.  Over  this  little  piazza 
looms  the  vast  facade  of  the  southern  transept,  which  is  very 
similar  in  its  design  and  brick  material  to  the  northern 
front;  the  principal  differences  being  that  the  porch  is  not 
of  marble,  and  is  less  ornate,  while  the  three  great  windows 
of  the  second  storey  are  round-arched,  with  coupled,  slim, 
marble  shafts,  one  behind  another,  and  the  middle  window 
contains  four  beautiful  little  pointed  arches,  with  much  dainty 
cotta-work.  There  are  the  same  ponderous,  arcaded  frieze 
(or  gallery)  and  the  same  imposing  general  effect. —  The 
early  mosaics  with  which  the  pavement  of  the  Campo  Santo 
was  once  adorned,  I  could  obtain  no  trace  of. 

Failing  in  that  search,  I  struck  westward  down  the  street 
along  the  southern  flank  of  the  Municipio,  stopping  a  moment 
to  observe  the  huge  brick  tower  at  its  southwestern  corner, 
lofty,  crenellated,  and  mediaeval-looking,  yet  which  has  been 
but  recently  completed;  showing  that  the  Cremonese  still 
take  pride  in  their  towers, —  as  in  the  old  days  when  the 
remarkable  number  of  them  bestowed  the  name  of  "  La  Citta 
Turrita." 6  It  overlooks  the  adjacent  Piazza  Pescherie, 
which  is  used,  not  only  for  a  fish,  but  also  for  a  fruit- 
and  vegetable-market;  the  wooden  stalls  run  down  its  cen- 
tre, shaded  by  rows  of  maple  trees.  Southeastward  extends 
the  Via  Beltrami,  lined  with  old  buildings  painted  in  vivid 
hues  of  red,  green,  pink  and  yellow, —  just  as  in  Renaissance 
days.  I  continued  southwestward,  along  the  Via  Tebaldi, 
which  brought  me  after  a  quarter  of  a  mile  to  the  huge 
church  of  S.  Pietro  al  Po,  located  within  a  stone's  throw  of 
the  southwestern  ramparts,  toward  which  it  faces  across  a 
bare,  deserted  piazza. 

6  The    annalist  Bordigallo   related   that   the   number   in   the  early 
•  cinquecento   amounted   to   64,  besides  those  of  the  77   churches   and 
oratories  and  the  62  which  fortified  the  walls. 


CREMONA  THE  CAPTIVATING  375 

This  edifice,  probably  next  to  the  Duomo  in  size  and 
adornment,  was  erected  about  1550  by  Ripari,  with  a  lofty 
campanile,  and  a  stuccoed  fagade  in  the  later  renaissance 
style,  having  the  usual  tall  pilasters  and  heavy  cornice.  Its 
interior  proved  to  be  finely  proportioned ;  the  lengthy  nave 
being  separated  from  the  aisles  by  stucco  piers  faced  with 
gilded  pilasters,  and  from  the  apsidal  choir  by  a  shallow  dome 
and  transept.  The  extraordinary  feature  was  the  endless 
quantity  of  frescoes  covering  the  vaulting,  arches,  walls, 
dome  and  apse,  with  infinite  designs,  architectural  and  fanci- 
ful, which  were  interspersed  with  panels,  big  and  little,  con- 
taining figures  and  varied  scenes, —  an  enormous  picture-gal- 
lery, of  kaleidoscopic  tints.  And  still  more  extraordinary, 
this  was  not  worthless,  decadent  painting,  but  work  of  the 
height  of  the  Renaissance,  executed  by  master-hands:  for  it 
was  done  by  the  Campi  and  their  assistants, —  under  the  chief 
designing  and  direction  of  Antonio,  with  Vincenzo  as  the 
main  aid,  to  whose  genius  such  labour  was  particularly  suited. 
With  his  own  hand  Antonio,  however,  painted  all  the  tableaux 
of  the  aisles  and  transepts;  the  former  being  adorned  with 
four  scenic  panels  upon  each  bay  of  the  vaulting,  four  upon 
the  soffit  of  each  archway,  and  others  upon  the  insides  of  the 
piers,  from  top  to  bottom ;  —  all  these  amidst  profuse  designs, 
of  lustrous  colours  and  extreme  decorativeness,  doubtless  exe- 
cuted largely  by  Vincenzo. 

Along  the  centre-line  of  the  nave-vaulting  extended  the 
largest  tableaux,  five  panels  by  Malosso  representing  the 
cardinal  virtues  amidst  clouds, —  the  best-modelled  of  all  the 
figures;  the  rest  of  the  roof,  with  its  many  excellent  scenes 
from  the  New  Testament,  along  the  slopes,  was  done  by  the 
talented  Ermenigi  da  Lodi.  The  cupola  was  filled  with  a 
huge,  unordered  Gloria,  by  Lamberti  of  Florence,  done  at 
the  same  time.     Yet  another  extraordinary  feature  became 


376  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

evident :  every  one  of  the  altars  in  the  edifice  —  the  five  in 
each  aisle,  within  small  recesses,  and  those  of  the  transepts 
and  choir  —  was  adorned  with  a  painting  of  the  first  order, 
many  of  them  very  beautiful.  Those  of  the  left  aisle  suc- 
cessively were:  a  highly  finished  Madonna  and  saints  by  G. 
Campi,  an  entrancing  Adoration  by  B.  Gatti,  a  pensive  Holy 
Family  by  Antonio  Campi,  an  injured  but  very  fine  panel  of 
Madonna  and  saints  by  Gian.  Fran.  Bembo  (1524),  and  a 
dramatic  Martyrdom  of  St.  Cecelia  by  G.  Gatti  (dated 
1601).  In  the  left  transept,  on  the  end  wall,  was  a  very 
large  and  unusual  tableau  of  the  Murder  of  St.  Thomas  a 
Becket,  by  Natali  (1657),  and  over  the  adjacent  altar,  a 
charming  canvas  of  the  Baptist  preaching,  by  Ermenigi.  In 
the  choir,  the  high-altar-piece  was  a  splendid  work  of  An- 
tonio's, a  Madonna  in  glory  with  saints  below.  On  the 
ceiling  of  the  adjacent  sacristy  appears  his  famous  fresco 
of  "  that  beautiful  colonnade,  above  which  appears  the 
chariot  of  Elias  in  the  distance;"7  the  chariot  traverses 
the  sky  directly  above  the  observer,  and  its  galloping  horses 
are  executed  with  very  spirited  movement,  grace  of  form, 
and  lifelikeness  of  moulding,  in  spite  of  the  unusual  difficul- 
ties from  the  point  of  view. 

Of  the  above  pictures  by  the  Gatti,  Lanzi  remarks  that 
Bernardino's  Adoration  "  affords  evidence  of  his  power  of 
imitating  Correggio,  without  becoming  a  servile  artist,"  and 
that  Gervasio's  S.  Cecilia,  "  surrounded  with  angels  in  the 
Correggio  manner,  is  a  picture  nobly  coloured,  and  finished 
with  exquisite  care."  Both  are  enlightening  comments  on 
the  beauties  of  their  style. —  Another  S.  Cecilia  was  visible  in 
the  sacristy,  standing  with  S.  Giacinto  below  the  Madonna 
in  glory, —  a  most  lovely  form,  in  a  scene  of  superb  lighting, 
tone,  and  grace;  Malosso  was  the  author.     He  had  still  an- 

7  Lanzi's  "  History  of  Painting." 


CREMONA  THE  CAPTIVATING  377 

other  picture  on  the  wall  of  the  right  transept, —  St.  Mary  of 
Egypt, —  and  two  in  the  right  aisle,  over  the  first  and  fourth 
altars  from  the  entrance:  the  latter  a  crowded  Adoration, 
the  former  showing  Saints  Bernardino  and  Francesco,  with 
the  Holy  Ghost  and  a  swarm  of  putti  in  Heaven,  above  a  fine 
landscape  of  greenish,  dusky  hue.  The  fifth  altar  held  a 
S.  Lucia  being  ordered  to  execution,  by  Gerv.  Gatti;  the 
third,  a  Deposition  on  wood  by  Battista  Ricca  (1521)  of 
strange  reddish-brown  hue,  and  of  much  feeling;  and  the 
second,  a  remarkably  fine  Pieta  by  the  cinquecentist,  Lattan- 
zio  Gambera  of  Cremona  (pupil  of  Guilio  Campi),  of 
splendid  composition  and  expression,  with  a  most  noble  figure 
of  the  Saviour, —  a  picture,  said  Lanzi,  "  highly  esteemed  by 
professors  (of  art),  one  of  whom  declared  that  he  had  never 
witnessed  any  other  so  exquisite  in  point  of  design,  nor  col- 
oured with  so  much  delicacy,  cleanness,  and  taste  and  soft- 
ness of  tints:"  another  proof  of  the  tremendous  influence 
of  those  wonderful  days,  which  sometimes  inspired  men  of  no 
extraordinary  talents  into  short  flights  of  genuine  genius. 

Adjacent  to  the  church  on  the  north  lie  the  remains  of 
the  monastery  of  the  Padri  Lateranensi,8  for  which  Bern. 
Gatti  painted  his  celebrated,  enormous  fresco  of  the  Multi- 
plication of  the  loaves  and  fishes.  This  was  shown  to  me  in 
the  abandoned  refectory,  covering  its  end  wall, — "  one  of 
the  most  copious  paintings  to  be  met  with  in  any  religious 
refectory,  full  of  figures  larger  than  life."  Two  hundred 
figures  altogether  are  seen,  many  of  them  very  lifelike  and 
graceful ;  the  Saviour  is  blessing  the  loaves  at  the  left,  and  the 
multitude  sit  or  stand  upon  the  right,  eating  hungrily,  their 
masses  most  admirably  and  naturally  disposed, —  a  feat  that 
few   masters   could    accomplish   satisfactorily.     On    the   side 

8  Here  G.  Vida  passed  his  novitiate;  after  which,  in  151 1,  he 
proceeded  to  Rome. 


378  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

wall  hang  two  good  canvases:  the  Doctors  of  the  Church, 
by  Mainardi,  with  charming  angels  flitting  about,  and  a 
Madonna  in  glory  with  saints  below,  by  Bern.  Campi. 

A  couple  of  blocks  northwest  of  this  stretches  the  Corso 
Vitt.  Emanuele,  on  its  dignified  way  to  the  Porta  al  Po; 
without  which,  on  following  the  Corso,  I  saw  a  broad  tree- 
shaded  avenue  leading  far  and  straightaway  across  the  level 
to  the  river.9  Here  I  noticed  the  grand  opera  house  of  Cre- 
mona, the  splendid  Teatro  Ponchielli,  of  1 807,  faced  with 
an  imposing  classic  portico  on  lofty  corinthian  columns;  its 
interior,  as  I  found  later,  is  truly  majestic,  ornate  with 
beautiful  frescoes  and  endowed  with  four  tiers  of  boxes  and  a 
gallery.  Near-by,  on  the  same  southern  side,  rises  the  hand- 
some stuccoed  renaissance  fagade  of  the  Palazzo  Reale, 
which  is  now  devoted  mainly  to  the  city's  Museo  Civico; 
it  is  adorned  with  two-storied  corinthian  pilasters,  rising 
upon  a  rusticated  basement,  and  supporting  a  rich  cornice 
topped  by  statues. 

This  building  I  visited  on  a  subsequent  day;  being  con- 
ducted at  once  to  the  first  floor,  by  a  staircase  embellished 
with  sculptures  and  two  works  of  Malosso,  and  thence 
through  a  narrow  hall  containing  fragments  of  early  frescoes, 
more  or  less  obliterated.  Room  I,  to  the  right  in  front,  con- 
tained bronzes,  ivories,  terracotta  pieces,  ceramic  ware,  cam- 
eos, books,  etc.,  of  both  the  Mediaeval  and  Renaissance 
epochs;  Room  II  (proceeding  westward)  contained  some 
tables  of  coins,  and  fine  old  coffers,  surrounded  by  paintings 
of  varied  age, —  chief  amongst  them  a  Civerchio,  representing 
the  Trinity  with  two  Franciscan  friars  below,  also  a  Mag- 
dalen by  Bonifazio  (669)  and  an  anonymous  Madonna  and 

0  This  Viale  del  Po  is  the  favourite  drive  and  fashionable  prome- 
nade of  the  modern  Cremonese,  who  are  also  quite  proud  of  the 
long  bridge  that  carries  it  across  the  Po,  here  of  imposing  width. 


CREMONA  THE  CAPTIVATING  379 

saints  (667)  in  the  half-length  drawing  and  very  golden, 
dreamy  manner  of  Palma  Vecchio.  Room  III  held  the 
major  part  of  the  valuable  local  paintings:  a  characteristic, 
peaceful  Madonna  and  saints  by  Boccaccino  (116),  another 
by  his  son  Camillo,  quite  charming  in  grace  and  tone  (142), 
another  by  Galeazzo  Campi,  showing  that  master's  clearly 
drawn  and  richly  coloured  style  (115),  a  panel  of  the 
Adoration  by  Tommaso  Aleni,  of  excellent  finish  and  golden 
tone  (117),  a  panel  of  the  Madonna  with  the  sacred  infants 
and  a  bishop,  by  Gian.  Fran.  Bembo  (140A),  and  a  finely 
modelled  Madonna  and  saints  by  Bern.  Campi  (141)  — 
peculiar  for  its  shades  of  colour  in  a  half-light. 

Room  IV  was  devoted  to  other  schools.  Most  prominent 
in  value  were:  Lorenzo  di  Credi's  exquisitely  tender  Ma- 
donna with  the  sacred  infants  (197),  Francia's  beautiful 
Madonna  and  saints,  half-length  (200),  Catena's  Holy 
Family,  in  a  bluish  landscape  under  evening  light  (210), 
and  a  couple  of  works  by  unknown  authors ;  which  were 
a  quattrocento  Madonna  with  angels  (164),  and  another 
of  the  same  period,  with  four  little  angels  (162),  not  by 
Crivelli,  as  stated.  In  Room  V  were  some  foreign  paint- 
ings, mainly  of  the  Flemish  school, —  of  little  worth,  except 
Van  Orleys'  cathedral-interior  (240)  ;  also  two  remarka- 
ble stone  reliefs, —  one  very  archaic  and  quaint,  the  other  a 
cinquecento  battle-scene  with  centaurs.  From  this  I  trav- 
ersed a  corridor  lined  with  etchings,  and  photographs  of 
Boccaccino's  frescoes  in  the  Duomo,  well  worth  studying, — 
giving  a  nearer  view  of  them  and  revealing  clearly  their 
superb  qualities ;  at  the  end  appeared  two  rooms  with  modern 
paintings,  noteworthy  only  for  the  three  fine  works  of  Giov. 
Bergamaschi. 

There  remained  the  second  floor,  which,  though  not  en- 
riched with  paintings,  proved  to  contain  several  interesting 


38o  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

collections:  one  of  renaissance  cartoons  and  engravings,  an- 
other of  specimens  of  natural  history,  a  third  of  souvenirs 
of  the  Risorgimento ;  and  a  fourth  —  most  interesting  of 
all  —  of  relics  of  Cremona's  great  violin  industry,  including 
personal  remembrances  of  the  immortal  masters  and  their 
families. 

Halfway  between  this  place  and  the  Piazza  Garibaldi 
(supra)  and  a  couple  of  blocks  west  of  Corso  Campi,  sits 
the  church  next  in  importance,  and  the  next  object  of  inter- 
est proceeding  northward, —  S.  Agostino, —  or,  as  it  is  some- 
times called,  S.  Giacomo  in  Breda.  It  is  outwardly  a  typical 
brick  church  of  the  trecento,  with  an  unplastered  fagade 
looking  westward  upon  a  little  grass-grown  piazza;  having 
three  plain  gothic  doorways,  five  circular  windows  overhead, 
and  a  gothic,  arcaded  frieze  of  brick  columns  and  arches ;  — 
in  other  words,  as  Mr.  Street  said,  "  a  very  bad  second 
edition  of  the  cathedral  front."  Within,  however,  as  I 
discovered  one  morning,  all  is  decadent  stucco-work  of  :he 
later  cinquecento;  especially  the  frescoed  roof,  which  took 
the  place  of  the  original  loftier,  gothic  vaulting,  destroyed 
by  an  earthquake.  The  long,  barrel-vaulted  nave,  flanked 
by  stucco  piers  enclosing  the  original  stone  columns,  with  a 
plaster  statue  elevated  before  each  pier, —  has  no  transept, 
but  an  apsidal  choir  raised  three  steps;  chapels  extend  along 
the  right  aisle  only;  the  second  of  which  is  an  extraordinary 
Calvary  of  stucco  figures,  very  natural  and  vividly  expressive, 
enacting  the  different  scenes  of  the  Passion, —  executed  by  G. 
B.  Barberini  of  Como. 

On  the  entrance-wall,  and  on  the  fifth  altar  to  right,  I 
observed  two  works  of  the  Campi,  the  latter  by  Galeazzo, 
—  a  highly  finished  panel  of  Madonna  and  Child ;  over  the 
first  altar  was  a  beautiful  Pieta,  accounted  one  of  the  best 
works  of   Malosso;   the  sixth  altar  held   Cremona's  lovely 


CREMONA  THE  CAPTIVATING  381 

specimen  of  Perugino,  from  which  Boccaccino  is  said  to  have 
largely  derived  his  best  pietistic  style, —  a  Madonna  with 
Sts.  James  and  Augustine,  under  an  arched  portico  backed 
by  the  blue  sky.  It  is  a  perfect  example  of  Perugino,  of  that 
rich,  mellow  tone  and  golden  light,  soft  splendour  of  finish, 
and  rounded  forms  and  faces  of  blissful  expression,  which 
are  so  well  known  to  us  all.  The  picture  is  signed,  and 
dated  1494.  The  high-altar-piece  is  a  Mainardi,  of  1590, — 
the  Saviour  in  glory,  with  St.  Augustine  and  others ;  and 
another  work  of  his  decorates  the  fourth  altar  from  the 
entrance,  on  the  left.  Near  it  are  a  most  interesting  and 
excellent  pair  of  frescoes  by  Bonifazio  Bembo, —  the  simple, 
kneeling,  portrait-forms  of  Francesco  Sforza  and  his  wife 
Bianca,  finely  characterised ;  also  a  beautiful  head  of  Christ 
on  wood  (by  an  unknown  cinquecentist  hand),  with  very 
sad  eyes.  The  seventh  altar  here  holds  a  lovely  group  of  four 
female  saints,  by  Ger.  Gatti ;  the  second,  a  striking  Vision  of 
St.  Anthony,  by  Malosso;  and  the  first,  a  rather  graceful 
Annunciation  by  Ant.  Campi. 

Halfway  again  between  this  edifice  and  the  Piazza  Gari- 
baldi, I  reached  the  little  church  of  S.  Margherita,  which 
Giulio  Campi  decorated  for  the  Abbate  Vida:  a  Renaissance 
basilica,  with  three  altars  against  each  side,  the  walls 
and  vaulting  covered  by  brilliant  designs  interspersed  with 
regular  scenic  panels.  The  little  tableaux  in  the  last,  repre- 
senting scenes  from  the  Old  Testament,  were  exquisitely 
done, —  really  better  than  the  large  pictures  with  lifesize 
figures,  upon  the  altars,  which  depicted  successive  scenes 
from  the  life  of  Christ.  The  history  of  the  Saviour  ended 
in  two  large  frescoes:  the  Crucifixion,  over  the  triumphal 
arch,  and  the  Resurrection  —  badly  injured,  like  many  others 
—  over  the  entrance.  In  the  spandrels  of  the  small  win- 
dows above  the  cornice  were  some  of  the  prettiest  figures 


382  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

present, — "  lone  females,"  charmingly  modelled  and  coloured. 
The  exterior  of  this  unique  church,  which  occupies  a  place 
in  art  all  by  itself,  resembles  a  dainty  brick  temple,  with  a 
pediment  upheld  by  four  brick  pilasters,  and  one  round  win- 
dow over  the  portal. 

In  thinking  over  the  gaudiness  of  these  late-Renaissance 
churches,  so  offensive  to  northern  ideas  of  religious  propriety, 
I  recall  Taine's  vehement  indictment  of  them,  as  "  all  be- 
dizened with  their  finery.  This  Pagan  Catholicism  is 
offensive,"  he  wrote;  "sensuality  can  always  be  detected 
under  the  mantle  of  asceticism."  10  But  those  who  are  thus 
offended  have  the  wrong  point  of  view:  bright,  luxurious 
decoration  is  as  natural  to  the  sun-bathed  Italians  as  gothic 
gloom  to  the  sunless  northerner,  and  is  correspondingly  neces- 
sary —  as  the  Jesuits  long  since  discovered  —  to  spur  their 
religious  feelings.  Mr.  Taine  himself  exposed  the  truth  of 
this:  "  A  man  of  warm  blood,  with  brightly  coloured,  pas- 
sionate conceptions,  is  possessed  through  the  eyes.  I  have 
seen  many  who  believed  themselves  rationalists  and  Vol- 
taireans;  a  funeral  ceremony,  the  sight  of  a  Madonna  in 
her  glittering  shrine  amidst  the  flashing  of  tapers  and  clouds 
of  incense,  put  them  beside  themselves,  and  brought  them 
to  the  ground  on  their  knees. — The  spring  within  us  is  not 
reason  nor  reasoning,  but  imagery.  Sensuous  appearances 
once  introduced  into  our  brains,  they  shape  and  repeat  them- 
selves, and  take  root  there;  so  that  afterwards,  when  we 
act,  it  is  in  the  sense  of  and  through  the  impulsion  of  forces 
thus  produced. —  [Thus]  without  poetry,  without  philosophy, 
without  any  of  the  nobler  impulses  of  religion,  man  is  got 
possession  of."  It  was  this  "  methodical  and  mechanical 
control  of  the  imagination,"  that  was  the  Jesuits'  great 
stroke  of  genius;  by  it  the  Roman  Church  manoeuvred  to 

i°H.  Taine's  "Italy." 


CREMONA  THE  CAPTIVATING  383 

save  itself  from  the  consequences  of  man's  awakening  to  a 
new  mental  life.  For,  "  after  the  universal,  glorious  Re- 
naissance,—  the  ascetic  religion  of  the  Middle  Ages  could 
no  longer  subsist.  The  world  could  no  longer  be  regarded 
as  a  dungeon ;  "  10a  and  man  was  learning  to  think  for  him- 
self.— 

Throughout  this  main  part  of  the  western  half  of  Cremona, 
from  S.  Pietro  to  S.  Margherita,  the  streets  are  remarkably 
broad  and  straight,  crossing  at  right  angles,  as  they  were 
made  by  the  Romans  twenty  centuries  ago;  and  the  sedate, 
regular,  stuccoed  houses  are  practically  unchanged  from 
later  Renaissance  days, —  significant  relics  of  that  era  of 
prosperity.  Everything  here  indicates  the  truth  of  Sis- 
mondi's  picture  of  a  Lombard  city  of  that  epoch, — "  sur- 
rounded with  thick  walls,  terraced,  and  guarded  by  towers, 
for  the  most  part  paved  with  broad  flag-stones,  while  the 
inhabitants  of  Paris  could  not  stir  out  of  their  houses  without 
plunging  into  the  mud.  Stone  bridges  of  an  elegant  and 
bold  architecture  were  thrown  over  rivers ;  aqueducts  carried 
pure  water  to  the  fountains.  The  palaces  of  the  podestas 
and  signorie  united  strength  with  majesty. —  Industry,  the 
employment  of  a  superabundant  capital,  the  application  of 
mechanism  and  science  to  the  production  of  wealth,  secured 
the  Italians  a  sort  of  monopoly  throughout  Europe;  they 
alone  offered  for  sale  what  all  the  rich  desired  to  buy;  and 
notwithstanding  the  losses  occasioned  by  their  own  oft- 
repeated  revolutions,  their  wealth  was  rapidly  renewed. — 
Every  one  gained,  and  spent  little;  manners  were  still  simple 
—  and  the  future  was  not  forestalled  by  accumulated 
debt."  " 

I   next  turned  my  attention  to  the  northern  section,  on 

10aH.  Taine's  "Italy." 

11  Sismondi's  "  Italian  Republics." 


384  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

both  sides  of  the  central  thoroughfare;  commencing  with 
the  latter  itself,  at  Piazza  Garibaldi,  which  lies  about  500 
yards  southeast  of  Porta  Milano.  Immediately  on  the  south 
of  the  piazza  I  observed  the  grand  old  gothic  palace  of 
the  quattrocento  built  by  the  noble  family  of  the  Trecchi; 
with  whose  head,  the  Marchese  of  his  day,  Garibaldi  stayed 
awhile  in  1862,  addressing  the  people  as  usual  from  the 
windows.  Here  also  the  Emperor  Charles  V  lodged,  in 
1540.  Its  basement  has  heavy,  receding  walls  of  grey  stone; 
the  upper  storeys,  stuccoed,  and  painted  in  soft  stripes  of 
red  and  yellow,  contain  rows  of  pointed  windows  in  imita- 
tion red-marble  frames,  with  reliefs  of  arms,  armour  and 
human  heads  in  their  lunettes;  the  cotta  string-course  is 
prettily  designed,  and  the  stuccoed  cornice  is  topped  by  brick 
battlements.  Another  gothic  palace,  very  old,  crumbling 
and  deserted,  stands  on  the  west  side  of  the  square, —  a 
brick  building  of  the  trecento,  supported  on  a  heavy  gothic 
arcade,  with  an  arcaded  frieze  and  battlements;  it  was  the 
former  Archivio  Notarile. 

Directly  opposite  this  picturesque  old  structure,  in  very 
marked  contrast,  rose  the  classic  edifice  of  S.  Agata,  with 
a  huge  portico  upheld  by  six  great  ionic  columns,  entirely  of 
white  stucco.  That  this  was  a  modern  addition  to  an  aged 
building  of  the  quattrocento,  was  shown  by  its  weather-worn 
brick  campanile,  rising  some  way  back,  pierced  near  the  sum- 
mit by  several  tiers  of  double-  and  triple-arched  windows. 
Its  interior  was  also  renovated;  the  long,  low  nave,  flanked 
by  stucco  piers  faced  with  pilasters,  was  frescoed  with  mod- 
ern designs"  and  occasional  scenic  panels, —  the  aisles  like- 
wise. Before  the  choir  was  a  small  dome,  and  a  presbytery 
formed  by  the  cessation  of  the  aisles  and  piers;  chapels 
flanked  the  aisles  for  half  their  length,  widely  open  like 
arcades.     Immediately  to  right  stood  a  beautiful  Renaissance 


CREMONA  THE  CAPTIVATING  385 

tomb,  that  of  the  Marchese  Fran.  Trecchi,  executed  in 
1502  by  Cristoforo  Romano;  its  sepulchre  was  covered  with 
the  most  exquisite  foliated  reliefs,  and  surmounted  by  two 
putti  at  the  ends.  Upon  the  entrance-wall  hung  two  pictures 
of  the  Campi,  and  in  the  choir  I  found  seven  more:  four 
large  frescoes  by  Giulio, —  early  works, —  setting  forth  the 
martyrdom  of  St.  Agatha,  and  composed  in  the  bold,  violent 
manner  of  Pordenone, —  and  three  smaller  canvases.  In  the 
presbytery,  to  left,  was  a  Boccaccino,  a  Holy  Family  with 
the  Magdalen,  not  so  highly  finished  and  carefully  executed 
as  was  his  wont,  but  of  his  usual  warm  tone  and  delightful 
colouring. 

Following  Corso  Garibaldi  northwestward,  I  passed  soon 
upon  the  left  a  large  imposing  Renaissance  palace,  having 
a  high  marble  base,  rustica  upon  both  of  its  storeys,  stone 
pilasters,  and  one  of  those  curious,  curving  cornices  found 
at  Cremona.  Shortly  beyond,  on  the  right,  appeared  the 
rococo  Palazzo  Maggi  erected  by  Bramante  Sacchi  of  Cre- 
mona, with  a  noble  cinquecento  portal,  and  a  row  of  singu- 
lar but  interesting  iron  gargoyles,  fashioned  as  large 
winged  griffins,  in  whose  fierce  open  jaws  the  big  tusks 
showed  wickedly.  Just  beyond  this  again,  on  the  right  side 
of  a  broad  piazza,  rose  the  very  old,  little  church  of  S. 
Luca,  with  the  plaster  half  crumbled  from  its  brick  fagade ;  it 
had  a  fine  early  porch,  resting  on  slender  red  marble  col- 
umns rising  from  mediaeval  lions,  its  round  arch  being 
adorned  with  gothic  pendants  and  a  fanciful  architrave,  both 
of  terracotta.  The  beautiful  rose  window  above  this  was 
also  of  terracotta,  likewise  the  splendid,  interwoven,  gothic 
frieze  and  cornice.  To  the  left  angle  of  the  front  was  at- 
tached a  later  building  of  the  Renaissance  era  (1503),  erected 
in  glowing  red  brick, —  a  three-storied  octagon  tipped  with 
an  open  lantern ;  this  was  the  Baptistery,  as  I  learned, —  the 


386  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

so-called  Capella  del  Crista  Risorto.  It  was  symmetrical 
in  form  and  very  tasteful  in  design,  being  adorned  with 
coupled  pilasters  on  each  storey,  between  the  large  single 
arches  below,  and  the  double-arched  windows  of  the  upper 
floors.  It  is  said  to  contain  good  frescoes  of  1590,  of  the 
Campi  school;  but  I  was  unable  to  enter,  owing  to  the  re- 
fractory state  of  the  old  rusty  lock.  The  long,  low,  dark 
interior  of  the  church  proved  to  be  cheaply  modernised,  with 
garish  frescoing,  and  no  old  painting  except  some  remnants 
of  trecento  saints  in  the  sacristy. 

The  northern  side  of  the  piazza  here  was  closed  by  the 
Porta  Milano;  so  returning  southward  a  couple  of  blocks,  I 
turned  eastward  upon  the  Via  Bertesi,  a  cross-street  leading 
shortly  to  the  broad  Via  Palestro, —  passing  midway  upon  the 
former  the  early-Renaissance  Palazzo  Crotti,  noted  for  con- 
taining some  of  Pedoni's  work.  But  again  I  was  unable  to 
enter.  Via  Palestro,  running  southeastward  parallel  with 
Corso  Garibaldi,  is  finally  joined  by  the  latter,  becoming 
then  the  Corso  Campi.  Among  its  buildings  are  a  number 
of  stately  old  palaces, —  foremost  the  Palazzo  Stanga,  the 
ancestral  home  of  the  prominent  family  of  that  name.  This 
soon  appeared  upon  the  west  side,  with  a  frightfully  baroque, 
stucco  facade;  but  within  was  one  of  the  most  striking  and 
lovely  things  in  Cremona, —  a  large  courtyard  magnificently 
adorned  with  terracotta  sculptures  of  the  Renaissance.  Upon 
its  rear  side  rose  a  glorious  cotta  facade  of  several  storeys, 
resting  on  a  colonnade  of  granite  columns,  embellished  with 
a  vast  mass  of  beautiful  figured  reliefs  on  every  floor,  and 
glistening  radiantly  in  its  rich,  light-crimson  hue.  Nothing 
more  beautiful  in  an  architectural  way  could  be  imagined ;  its 
erection  marked  a  climax  in  Lombard  terracotta-work. 

All  the  arches  are  overlaid  with  mouldings  of  the  most 
delicate  and  varied  patterns,  both  the  single  ones  of  the  first 


CREMONA  THE  CAPTIVATING  387 

two  storeys  and  the  double  windows  of  the  third ;  those  of 
the  ground-arcade  being  crowned  by  a  frieze  of  dainty  de- 
sign, with  medallions  containing  busts  upon  each  keystone. 
Over  these,  as  a  sort  of  balustrade  to  the  second  storey, 
runs  a  course  of  delightful,  agitated,  little  figures,  engaged 
in  labouring,  combating,  driving  chariots,  etc., —  remarkably 
lifelike  and  graceful ;  upon  which  rise  five  transcendently 
lovely,  double-arched  windows,  enclosed  in  rounded  frames 
of  rich  cotta  plaques,  with  bust-medallions  in  the  lunettes, 
and  the  double  arches  decorated  all  around  with  fanciful 
mouldings  and  other  plaques.  Between  their  frames  are 
corinthian  pilasters  with  charmingly  adorned  faces,  and  above 
them  extends  a  row  of  circular,  paneless  apertures  into  the 
garret,  similarly  moulded,  and  surrounded  by  square  frames 
composed  of  triangular  plaques.  Between  the  latter  rise 
finely  modelled  caryatides  on  short  pilasters,  supporting  the 
heavy,  classic  cornicione.  The  whole  effect  is  opulent  and 
gorgeous  beyond  any  cotta-work  I  have  ever  seen.  The 
entrance-wall,  built  up  in  stucco  with  the  same  general  de- 
sign and  painted  a  terracotta-red,  lacks  both  its  glossy  finish 
and  its  series  of  delicate  reliefs;  yet  away  from  the  other,  it 
would  be  quite  effective.  The  side  wall  on  the  left  is  of 
plain  stucco-work,  upon  the  continued  ground  arcade  with 
granite  columns. 

This  palace  was  of  further  interest  to  me  in  being  the 
home  of  that  Marchese  Ildefonso  Stanga  who  has  done  so 
much  toward  setting  Lombard  agriculture  on  its  feet  again, 
by  the  introduction  of  modern  implements  and  scientific 
methods.  This  he  has  accomplished  by  turning  his  estate 
near  Cremona  into  a  model  farm,  vast  in  size  but  complete 
in  every  detail ;  where  for  many  years  he  has  resided  and 
given  his  personal  care  to  each  improvement.  Those  same 
estates  had  been  abandoned  by  his  father,  for  the  gay  life  of 


388  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

Milan,  according  to  that  custom  of  absenteeism  which  was 
the  ruin  of  so  much  of  Lombardy.  The  son,  during  his 
youthful  years  of  schooling  at  Cremona,  was  used,  as  he  has 
said,  occasionally  to  walk  past  this  grand  ancestral  home, 
then  long  deserted  by  the  family,  which  "  with  its  pictures 
and  its  carved  oak  furniture,  lay  with  none  to  wake  its 
echoes,"  cobwebbed  and  falling  to  ruin.  "  Young  as  he  was, 
he  felt  a  sort  of  compunction  at  the  sight  of  the  empty  house 
with  its  air  of  melancholy  abandonment."  12  He  began  to 
ask  himself  why  this  should  be;  and  it  led,  directly  and 
eventually,  to  his  setting  himself  the  lifework  —  though 
trained  as  a  lawyer  —  of  putting  his  ancient  estates  and 
palaces  once  more  into  first-class  condition,  by  developing 
the  land  through  modern  methods. 

He  prepared  himself  for  this  by  years  of  patient  study 
of  scientific  agriculture  as  now  revealed,  in  all  its  branches, 
then  settled  upon  his  estates,  and  erected  with  infinite  care 
that  model  husbandry,  of  rural  life  and  labour,  which  has 
exerted  such  a  startling,  revivifying  influence  upon  the  amazed 
Lombards.  From  the  old  material  and  moral  chaos,  common 
to  most  estates,  he  has  constructed  an  ideally  happy  and  pros- 
perous community,  whose  hundreds  of  workers,  trained  by 
their  patriarchal  lord  in  the  latest  scientific  ways  and  to  the 
most  modern  implements,  labouring  under  his  sapient  eye 
with  the  precision  of  clockwork,  have  renovated  the  vigour 
of  the  land,  produced  wealth  from  the  abandoned  soil,  and 
constructed  a  clean,  comfortable  village  surrounded  by  numer- 
ous perfect  farm-buildings,  where  they  lead  moral  and  happy 
lives.  Amongst  them  dwells  the  Marchese  in  his  beautiful 
villa,  joyous  in  his  bucolic  serenity,  and  in  the  great  example 
which  he  has  set  his  countrymen.     His  work  should  be  seen 

12  "  Lombard  Studies,"  by  Countsss  Evelyn  Martinengo-Cesaresco. 


CREMONA  THE  CAPTIVATING  389 

by  any  visitor  who  can  afford  an  afternoon  for  the  trip. 
This  splendid  old  palace,  from  which  it  all  started,  stands 
no  more  deserted  and  falling  to  ruin,  but  replete  with  evi- 
dences of  prosperity  and  habitation. 

Shortly  beyond  it,  on  the  left,  I  passed  another  very  pleas- 
ing palazzo  of  brick  and  terracotta:  its  first  storey,  of  oblong 
windows  in  attractive  cotta  frames,  being  crowned  by  a 
string-course  of  delightful  figured  reliefs  like  that  I  had  just 
seen,  interspersed  with  festoons,  busts,  sea-horses,  etc.,  all 
of  exquisite  grace  in  composition  and  moulding;  while  the 
upper  storeys  were  adorned  with  rows  of  similarly  framed 
oblong  windows,  and  a  handsome  cotta  frieze  and  cornice. 
— "What  prodigality  of  thought  and  invention" — wrote 
Symonds  — "  has  been  lavished  on  the  terracotta  models  of 
unknown  Italian  artists!  What  forms  and  faces  —  beautiful 
as  shapes  of  dreams,  and,  like  dreams,  so  airy  that  we  think 
they  will  take  flight  and  vanish  —  lean  to  greet  us  from 
cloisters  and  palace-fronts  in  Lombardy!  "  13 

Turning  a  short  way  up  the  second  street  to  left,  Via 
Ugolino  Dati,  I  came  to  the  great  Renaissance  palace  of 
the  Dati  family,  which  was  given  by  the  last  Marchesa 
Dati,  in  1826,  to  be  an  eleemosynary  institution.  Its  four- 
storied  stucco  fagade,  imitating  rusticated  grey-stone,  was 
pierced  by  imposing  rows  of  baroque  windows,  and  had  a 
handsome  portal  with  a  doric  cornice,  upheld  by  detached 
doric  columns ;  over  whose  balcony  rose  four  large  Corinthian 
pilasters.  The  heavy  cornice  was  supported  by  fanciful 
long  consoles  composed  of  masques,  leaves,  and  four  young 
fauns  (in  the  centre).  To  west  of  it  was  a  large  extension 
of  the  hospital,  built  in  1836  through  the  Marchesa's  benefi- 
cence;   opposite    stood    another    late-Renaissance    palace,    of 

13  J.  A.  Symonds'  "  Fine  Arts." 


390  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

Palladian  style,  above  whose  rusticated  base,  with  fancifully 
barred  windows,  rose  a  central  pavilion  of  six  corinthian 
half-columns. 

Traversing  the  entrance-way  of  Palazzo  Dati,  I  stood  im- 
mediately in  its  stately  cortile,  ennobled  by  fine  loggias  on 
the  front  and  rear,  whose  brown  stucco  arches  were  sustained 
by  coupled  doric  columns  of  granite ;  that  in  the  rear  being 
of  one  storey  only,  with  the  greenery  of  a  pleasant  garden 
visible  behind  it.  Entering  thence  the  doorway  at  the  left 
end  of  the  front  loggia,  I  had  before  me  the  building's  cele- 
brated stairway,  occupying  from  ground  to  roof  a  well  of 
extraordinary  dimensions:  from  the  first  landing,  straight 
ahead,  two  flights  branched  right  and  left  to  secondary  land- 
ings, whence  four  other  flights  mounted  to  the  piano  nobile 
at  front  and  rear;  around  that  floor  ran  an  imposing  gallery, 
of  stucco  arcades  upon  handsome  columns  of  brownish, 
streaked  marble,  arranged  in  pairs;  between  them,  and  along 
the  various  flights,  ran  heavy  balustrades  of  brown  and  grey 
marbles.  Above  the  arcades  rose  white  walls  relieved  by 
corinthian  marble  pilasters,  and  niches  holding  busts  of  the 
bygone  Marchesi  Dati.  On  the  lofty  vaulting  glistened  the 
lustrous  tints  of  a  huge  fresco, —  the  Greek  gods,  in  Olympus ; 
and  three  smaller  ones,  of  similar  subjects,  adorned  the  ceil- 
ings of  the  gallery  and  the  entrance-arch.  The  whole  effect 
was  surpassingly  grandiose,  symmetrical,  and  finely  coloured; 
a  remarkable  example  of  the  magnificence  with  which  the 
nobles  of  the  late  Renaissance  built  their  mansions. — The 
hospital  proper  was  well  worth  visiting  as  a  further  example 
of  the  high  degree  of  comfort,  cleanliness  and  care  with  which 
such  Italian  institutions  are  maintained. 

Another  day  I  devoted  to  the  eastern  portion  of  the  city, 
with  its  tortuous,  narrow,  mediaeval  streets:  starting  from 
the  hotel  directly  eastward,  on  Via  Mazzini,  from  which, 


CREMONA  THE  CAPTIVATING  391 

after  several  blocks,  the  Corso  Umberto  diverged  to  the 
northeast.  Upon  the  latter,  to  right,  I  soon  reached  the 
charming  renaissance  facade  of  the  palace  of  the  Monte  di 
Pieta,  considered  the  handsomest  secular  edifice  in  the  city. 
The  basement  was  of  stucco,  imitating  rusticated  stone,  with 
a  graceful  marble  portal;  over  which  extended  a  splendid 
cotta  string-course,  containing  figures  of  centaurs  ridden 
by  a  man  and  a  woman,  medallions  held  by  human-headed 
serpents,  fine  Roman  busts,  and  numerous  other  figures. 
The  upper  storeys  were  pierced  by  oblong  windows  with 
rich  cotta  frames,  widely  spaced  and  of  striking  effect,  sep- 
arated by  slender,  red  marble  half-columns,  rising  from  base- 
ment to  frieze;  the  latter  consisting  of  a  row  of  circular 
cotta  frames,  alternately  open  and  filled  with  projecting  heads 
of  Indians,  warriors  and  Romans. 

The  court,  however,  was  still  more  attractive, —  one  of 
the  few  most  delightful  remembrances  of  Lombard  archi- 
tecture that  I  possess.  Fairylike  arcades  extended  round 
three  sides,  of  two  storeys  upon  two  of  the  sides ;  the  ground 
arcades  being  sustained  on  fanciful  ionic  columns,  or  pillars 
faced  with  similar  pilasters,  adorned  with  arabesque-can- 
delabra in  stucco  relievo;  while  the  rounded  cotta  archi- 
traves were  decorated  with  romanesque  spirals  and  zigzags. 
Over  them  ran  the  pleasantest  feature,  the  figured  cotta 
string-course,  rather  classic  in  its  panels  of  dancing  bac- 
chantes and  centaurs,  but  richly  glowing  with  a  hue  more 
modern.  There  were  centaurs  drawing  chariots  laden  with 
revellers,  and  others  caught  by  members  of  the  gentle  sex; 
they  reminded  me  of  Symonds'  characterisation  of  Lombard 
terracotta  reliefs,  that  "  they  almost  invariably  display  a 
feeling  for  beauty  more  sensuous,  with  less  of  scientific  pur- 
pose in  their  naturalism,  than  is  common  in  the  Tuscan 
style."     The  surmounting  terracotta  cornice,  and  that  of  the 


392  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

upper  storey,  were  very  prettily  designed.  The  upper  arcades 
added  grace  to  the  scene  by  the  lightness  of  their  airy  arches 
and  slim  columns,  interspersed  with  plants  and  flowers, — 
the  third  side,  in  place  thereof,  showing  a  series  of  lovely 
triple  windows. 

On  the  fourth  side,  toward  the  street,  the  ground-loggia 
of  cotta  arches  had  been  built  up,  and  topped  with  a  most 
curious  painted  frieze,  in  grisaille,  representing  scenes  of  the 
camp  and  battlefield,  with  a  walled  city  at  the  extreme  left, 
—  Cremona  itself,  being  besieged  by  Emperor  Vespasian. 
This  was  done  in  1490  by  some  artists  of  the  school  of 
Mantegna,  for  the  Marchese  Fodre,  who  erected  the  palace. 
In  the  western  front  room,  called  the  Salone  Preciosa,  I 
saw  numerous  little  portraits  of  the  Marchese  and  his  family, 
presumably  executed  by  the  same  hands,  placed  overhead 
between  the  springings  of  the  beams;  they  possessed  con- 
siderable charm ;  the  old  oak  ceiling  itself  was  very  handsome, 
and  upon  the  walls  were  restorations  of  the  original  frescoed 
designs  of  garlands,  etc.  In  another  room  upstairs  were 
some    faded    frescoes   by   Altobello    Melone. 

Adjacent  to  this  on  the  east  I  observed  an  impressive 
palace  in  the  Palladian  style,  with  tall  ionic  half-columns 
rising  from  a  rusticated  basement,  and  a  fine  courtyard  sur- 
rounded by  ponderous  stone  columns  and  arches.  Farther 
along  rose  other  distinguished  edifices,  some  of  them  very 
handsome, —  especially  No.  24,  on  the  left,  whose  window- 
frames,  pilasters,  and  string-courses  were  decorated  with 
captivating  renaissance  designs  in  bas-relief.  Two  blocks 
before  reaching  the  Porta  Venezia,  I  turned  to  the  left  down 
Via  Bernardino  Gatti  (pleasing  name)  to  the  quaint  old 
church  of  S.  Abbondio,  said  to  be  one  of  the  few  most  ancient 
in  Cremona.  Its  low,  orange-coloured  front  was  double,  evi- 
dently concealing  a  nave  and   a  large  chapel, — 'the   latter 


CREMONA  THE  CAPTIVATING  393 

upon  the  right,  surmounted  by  an  octagonal  drum,  the  former 
topped  by  a  rococo  gable  with  dwarf-obelisks  at  the  angles. 
Within  the  chapel,  my  gaze  was  at  once  drawn  to  a  beautiful 
Coronation  of  the  Madonna  frescoed  upon  its  right  wall, 
containing  many  charming  angels  surrounding  the  Throne 
with  melody:  a  most  gracefully  disposed  and  modelled  pic- 
ture, finely  toned  and  coloured,  and  sufficient  in  itself  to  re- 
veal its  author,  Melone,  as  the  possessor  of  true  genius.  On 
the  left  wall  was  a  quattrocento  relief  of  the  Madonna  and 
Child,  also  exceptionally  pleasing. 

The  interior  of  the  church  proved  most  extraordinary,  re- 
modelled into  a  form  absolutely  unique:  along  each  side  of 
the  low,  round-arched  nave  extended  a  sort  of  gallery,  com- 
posed of  a  series  of  four  renaissance  arches,  each  arch  flanked 
by  a  couple  of  oblong  niches  containing  plaster  statues,  with 
pilasters  framing  the  triple  combination  so  formed,  and  with 
supporting  corner-columns  to  the  arch  itself;  the  archway 
proper  in  each  case  was  fairly  deep,  covering  a  side-altar 
adorned  with  bright-hued  statuettes.  All  these  triple  open- 
ings, with  their  pilasters,  columns,  arches,  and  spandrels,  as 
well  as  the  frieze  of  stucco  reliefs  running  overhead,  were 
gilded  with  dazzling  effect.  Upon  which  was  superimposed 
the  gay  frescoing  of  the  vaulting,  done  by  the  Campi,  in  those 
elaborate  and  variegated  designs  that  flowed  so  richly  from 
Antonio's  fertile  fancy,  interspersed  regularly  by  the  usual 
panelled  tableaux;  of  these  there  were  four  large  ones  down 
the  centre-line,  depicting  saints  in  glory,  and  four  smaller 
upon  each  side,  in  the  lunettes  next  the  walls,  holding  lifesize 
prophets.  The  combined  effect  was  so  rich  as  to  be  cloying. 
There  was  no  transept;  but  the  narrower,  domed  choir  had 
been  also  decorated  by  the  Campi:  the  cupola,  with  a  large 
fresco  of  the  Virgin  in  glory,  surrounded  by  a  host  of  angels; 
the  apse-wall  (high-altar-piece)  by  a  richly  toned  canvas  of 


394 


LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 


Giulio's, —  the  Madonna  with  saints  and  putti,  well  com- 
posed though  not  very  graceful.  Much  more  grace  was  in 
his  Madonna  of  the  adjacent  rear  chapel,  before  whom  prayed 
S.  Nazzaro  at  an  altar, —  a  well-known  work  of  the  master's 

(1527). 

Close  behind  S.  Abbondio  rise  the  northern  city  walls,  still 
quite  intact  with  all  their  bastions,  and  accompanied  by  the 
ancient  moat.  Inside  the  ramparts  stretches  a  promenade 
called  the  Passeggio  Pubblico,  from  Porta  Venezia  to  the 
distant  Porta  Milano,  which  is  well  worth  a  little  of  the 
visitor's  time.  On  the  present  occasion,  however,  I  took 
the  narrow  Vicolo  Umuliati  westward,  which  soon  brought 
me  to  the  curious  church  of  SS.  Eusebio  e  Facio,  facing 
northward,  preceded  by  a  fore-court  of  ancient  style,  that 
was  surrounded  by  arcades  with  coupled  granite  columns.133- 
Opposite  stood  the  Ospedale  Civico,  or  city-hospital, —  a 
grand  institution,  of  impressive  size  and  accommodations. 
As  Lady  Morgan  said,  "  The  Italians  have  very  universally 
manifested  a  bias  towards  this  mode  of  charity,  and  the  first 
families  of  the  country  have  occupied  themselves  in  the  de- 
tails of  hospital-establishments,  while  different  religious  or- 
ders have  devoted  their  labours  to  the  same  useful  end;  and 
much  must  naturally  be  expected  from  the  operation  of  so 
many  causes."  14 —  Just  to  west  of  this  piazza  stands  the  old 
church  of  S.  Siro,  itself  of  little  interest,  but  raising  far 
aloft  a  quaint  gothic  campanile,  whose  brick  walls  are 
adorned  with  terracotta  cornices,  and  three  tiers  of  pointed 
windows,  single  and  double-arched. 

Though  the  77  churches  of  Cremona  in  the  Renaissance 

l3aThis  is  very  remarkable  and  interesting,  as  being  one  of  the 
two  or  three  edifices  only,  in  all  north-Italy,  that  possess  the  pre- 
Lombard,  early  Roman-basilica  type  of  entrance-court. 

14  Lady  Morgan's  "Italy,"  Vol.  III. 


CREMONA  THE  CAPTIVATING  395 

period  have  been  greatly  reduced,  through  various  causes, 
there  are  still  about  forty;  and  a  number  of  them,  besides 
those  mentioned,  are  slightly  worth  visiting,  especially  by 
the  stranger  who  makes  a  long  stay:  chief  among  them,  to 
be  short,  S.  Michele,  the  eldest,  with  its  Crucifixion  by 
Antonio  Campi ;  SS.  Giacomo  e  Vincenzo,  with  its  Annun- 
ciation by  Gerv.  Gatti  and  its  St.  Joseph  by  Francesco  Boc- 
caccino;  SS.  Pietro  e  Marcellino,  where  Gervasio  Gatti,  in 
1604,  left  upon  the  high-altar  a  picture  of  S.  Marcellino 
administering  baptism  to  S.  Paolina;  and  S.  Pelagia,  with  its 
fine  frescoes  by  Guilio  Campi,  besides  its  monument  to 
Girolamo  Vida,  who  lies  buried  there.  In  many  others  will 
be  found  works  of  the  Campi,  of  an  excellence  that  in  less 
favoured  cities  would  cause  them  to  be  prominently  mentioned 
to  the  traveller.15 

But  after  all,  there  still  remained  for  me  to  visit  the 
second  most  important  edifice  of  Cremona,  in  an  artistic 
sense, —  of  Cremona,  but  not  in  it ;  for  S.  Sigismondo  lies 
nearly  two  miles  beyond  the  eastern  walls,  just  off  the  old 
highway  to  Mantua.  The  steam  tramway  to  Casalmaggiore 
makes  a  stop  close  by;  which  one  can  take  either  at  Porta 
Venezia,  or  at  its  starting  point  near  the  railway  station. 
But  a  public  vettura  is  much  more  convenient,  and  not  ex- 
pensive. I  drove  out  through  Porta  Venezia  one  bright 
summer  afternoon,  thinking  of  the  days  when  the  army  of  the 
Republic  of  St.  Mark  lay  encamped  thereabout,  when  Car- 
magnola  and  Malatesta  struggled  for  the  city's  possession, 
and  Colleone  seized  the  tower  by  night.  Nothing  of  that 
bloody  past  was  visible  in  these  smiling,  luxuriant  fields, 
stretching  away  with  few  trees  to  the  horizon.  We  fol- 
lowed the  turnpike   for  the  required   distance,   then  turned 

15  Consult,  for  these  minor  churches,  the  Illustrazlone  Storica,  etc., 
di  Cremona. 


396  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

to  the  right,  and  quickly  drew  up  before  the  isolated  church, 
which  looked  toward  the  town.  Its  weather-beaten,  stuccoed 
fagade  was  in  no  way  noteworthy,  being  of  the  typical  high- 
Renaissance  pattern  that  prevailed  before  the  Palladian  era. 
On  entering,  however,  there  burst  upon  my  eyes  another 
such  glory  of  infinite  colours  and  innumerable  fair  designs  as 
that  I  had  beheld  at  S.  Pietro  al  Po, —  although  the  tints  had 
been  perceptibly  toned  down  by  age  from  their  primeval 
brightness.  It  was  a  fair-sized,  aisleless  basilica,  without 
visible  transepts,  domed  above  the  spacious  choir,  having  six 
chapels  on  each  side  opening  freely  into  the  nave  through 
large  arches,  so  that  their  refulgent  wealth  of  decoration 
seemed  a  part  of  the  main  body.  They  were  separated  by 
heavy  piers  faced  on  three  sides  by  beautiful  pilasters,  adorned 
with  arabesques;  and  arabesques  of  most  varied,  luxurious 
design  covered  the  handsome  vaulting,  divided  by  ribs  into 
three  large  bays.  Down  the  middle  of  the  roof  extended 
four  big  tableaux  of  still  resplendent  colouring:  the  first,  a 
Descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  which  Giulio  Campi  is  seen 
at  the  zenith  of  his  power;  the  second,  of  double  size,  an 
Ascension  of  powerful  composition  and  striking  perspective, 
—  the  Christ  rising  in  clouds,  surrounded  by  a  beautiful 
host  of  cherubim  and  little  angels;  the  remaining  two,  con- 
siderably smaller,  placed  together  in  the  third  bay, —  a 
Resurrection,  and  a  Jonah  vomited  forth  by  a  whale-dragon, 
before  a  couple  of  very  surprised  fishermen.  On  the  side 
slopes  of  the  bays  were  six  huge  seated  figures  of  prophets. 
Over  the  side  arches  extended  an  attractive  frieze  of  putti, 
including  the  busts  of  the  twelve  Apostles,  four  in  each  bay ; 
above  which  opened  a  row  of  circular  windows,  topped  by 
triangular  lunettes  containing  the  loveliest-conceivable  com- 
positions of  foliated  tracery,  interspersed  with  putti,  mytho- 
logical beasts,  and  voluptuous  nude  figures,  all  on  a  grand 


CREMONA  THE  CAPTIVATING  397 

scale,  and  superbly  executed  and  coloured ;  upon  the  shoulders 
of  the  side  arches  reclined  lifesize  stucco-figures,  male  and 
female ;  the  faces  of  the  piers  and  pilasters,  the  sides  of  the 
piers,  and  soffits  of  the  arches,  were  all  painted  in  happy  ara- 
besques, with  musical  instruments  and  putti;  while  the  front 
wall  was  embellished  with  a  large  Annunciation. 

All  this  frescoing  of  the  nave  was  the  work  of  the  Campi ; 
and  so  was  the  lavish  decoration  of  the  chapels,  consisting  of 
frescoes,  canvases,  and  dainty  stucco-work  upon  some  of  the 
ceilings  in  the  manner  of  Primaticcio, —  doubtless  moulded 
by  one  who  had  learned  from  the  latter,  at  near-by  Mantua. 
These  chapels,  as  Lanzi  justly  said,  "  contain  almost  every 
variation  of  the  art, —  large  pictures,  small  histories,  cameos, 
stuccoes,  chiaroscuros,  grotesques,  festoons  of  flowers,  pilas- 
ters, with  gold  recesses,  from  which  cherubs  of  the  most 
graceful  form  seem  to  rise,  with  symbols  adapted  to  the  saint 
of  that  altar;  in  a  word,  the  whole  of  the  paintings  and  their 
decorations  are  the  work  of  the  same  genius,  and  sometimes 
of  the  same  hand."  The  first  chapel  on  the  left,  for  in- 
stance, has  adornments  by  Giulio  alone,  including  two  large 
canvases;  and  the  third  was  embellished  by  Bernardino, — 
the  shrine  of  St.  Cecilia.  In  its  ceiling  of  delicate  stucco 
reliefs  1  saw  four  little  painted  panels,  once  very  pleasing, 
but  now  injured;  and  upon  the  walls,  two  large  canvases,  in- 
cluding Bernardino's  famous  St.  Cecilia  at  the  Organ, —  ex- 
quisite in  sentiment,  in  loveliness  of  contour  and  moulding, 
and  glow  of  tone  and  colour. 

"  Nothing  " —  continued  Lanzi  — "  can  be  conceived  more 
simply  beautiful,  and  more  consistent  with  the  genius  of  the 
best  age,  than  his  picture  of  St.  Cecilia  playing  upon  the 
organ,  while  St.  Catherine  stands  near  her ;  and  above  them 
is  a  group  of  angels,  apparently  engaged  with  the  two  inno- 
cent virgins   in   pouring   forth   strains  worthy   of   Paradise. 


398  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

This  painting,  with  its  surrounding  decoration  of  cherub- 
figures,  displays  his  mastery  in  grace.  Still  he  appears  to 
no  less  advantage  in  point  of  strength  in  his  figures  of  the 
Prophets,  grandly  designed"  (upon  the  vaulting).  The 
fifth  chapel  had  another  charming  stucco  ceiling;  it,  and  all 
the  others  upon  this  side,  were  adorned  with  canvases,  and 
frescoes  more  or  less  damaged,  by  the  other  members  of  the 
Campi  school. 

In  the  dome  over  the  choir  appeared  Bernardino's  master- 
piece, a  superb  though  much  faded  Gloria, — "  with  which  " — 
continues  Lanzi  — "  few  in  Italy  will  bear  a  comparison, 
and  still  fewer  can  be  preferred  for  the  abundance,  variety, 
distribution,  grandeur,  and  gradation  of  the  figures,  and  for 
the  harmony  and  grand  effect  of  the  whole."  Beneath  it, 
on  each  side,  were  carved  and  inlaid  oak  stalls,  surmounted 
by  music-lofts;  behind  which  lay  two  separate  unused  spaces 
of  the  church,  distinguished  nevertheless  by  frescoes  of 
Camillo  Boccaccino  on  their  vaulting.  Compositions  of 
putti  occupied  the  two  centres,  with  four  small  tableaux 
below  on  one  side,  and  the  four  Evangelists  on  the  other; 
the  latter,  "  his  most  remarkable  works,  are  seated,  with  the 
exception  of  St.  John,  who  is  standing  up  —  forming  a  curved 
outline  which  is  opposed  to  the  arch  of  the  ceiling,  a  figure 
no  less  celebrated  for  its  perspective  than  for  its  design." 
Two  more  frescoes  of  Camillo,  fine  large  animated  scenes, 
flanked  the  apsidal  high-altar-recess  at  the  back  of  the  choir, 
—  the  Woman  taken  in  Adultery  (of  Paolo  Veronese  ef- 
fect), and  the  Raising  of  Lazarus.  The  high-altar-/>a/a  was 
a  glorious  specimen  of  Giulio  Campi, —  a  Madonna  in  glory, 
above  four  saints  and  the  kneeling  portrait-figures  of  Fran- 
cesco Sforza  and  Bianca,  in  memory  of  whose  nuptials  the 
Duke  founded  this  church,  in  1441 ; 16  their  busts,  also,  occu- 

16  "In   a   chapel    dedicated   to   him    (S.   Sigismondo)    Francesco 


CREMONA  THE  CAPTIVATING  399 

pied  niches  over  the  windows  here,  to  right  and  left.  In  the 
half-dome  of  the  apse  was  a  strangely  composed  and  tinted 
Ascension,  of  weird  effect. 

A  door  in  the  south  wall  near  the  choir  admitted  me  to 
the  adjacent  deserted  cloister;  it  was  handsomely  arcaded 
on  four  sides,  with  rounded  stucco  arches  on  granite  columns, 
but  was  fast  going  to  ruin  Above  this  doorway  I  noticed 
a  canvas  of  the  Last  Supper,  also  ruinous,  but  which  must 
once  have  been  an  excellent  work. —  The  southern  line  of  side 
chapels,  by  the  Campi,  were  quite  similar  to  those  opposite, 
in  faded  frescoing,  bright  canvases,  and  delightful  stuccoed 
ceilings  with  little  panels.  The  Swoon  of  St.  Catherine, 
in  the  fourth  chapel, —  with  lovely  angels  and  effective 
chiaroscuro  —  and  the  Madonna  with  a  bishop-saint,  in  the 
first,  were  clearly  by  Giulio  himself,  and  of  superior  grace 
and  feeling.  There  were  also  here  a  few  canvases  of  later 
date.  But  one  of  the  most  remarkable  things  about  this 
very  remarkable  and  beautiful  edifice, —  so  I  reflected,  as  I 
drove  slowly  back  to  town  —  was  its  practical  solidarity 
with  its  epoch:  a  great  church  decorated  throughout  by  the 
artists  of  one  generation,  and  that  the  supreme  generation  of 
the  Renaissance! 

Sforza  celebrated  his  marriage  with  Bianca  Visconti,  the  heiress  of 
Milan.  As  a  monument  at  once  of  his  love,  his  gratitude  and  his 
piety,  he  converted  the  little  church  into  a  most  magnificent  temple." 
—  Mrs.  Jameson:  "Legends  of  the  Monastic  Orders." 


CHAPTER  XII 

MANTOVA  LA  GLORIOSA 

"  Not  far  his  course  [the  Mincio]  hath  run,  when  a  wide  flat 
It  finds,  which  overstretching  as  a  marsh 
It  covers,  pestilent  in  summer  oft. 
Hence  journeying,  the  savage  maiden  saw 
Midst  of  the  fen   a  territory  waste 
And  naked  of  inhabitants.     To  shun 
All  human  converse,  here  she  with  her  slaves, 
Plying   her    arts,   remained. —  On    those    dead   bones 
They  reared  themselves  a  city,  for  her  sake 
Calling  it  Mantua,  who  first  chose  the  spot." 

Dante's  "Inferno,"  Canto  XX;  Gary's  Trans. 

In  the  centre  of  that  immense  plain,  with  its  countless  leagues 
of  vineyards,  cultivated  fields,  mulberry  groves  and  lines  of 
poplars,  there  comes  a  break  in  its  monotony,  a  change  to 
something  neither  of  land  nor  sea,  but  half  partaking  of  the 
nature  of  each, —  a  fen-land,  of  sedge-grown  marsh  and  mias- 
matic meadow,  far  stretching,  graced  in  its  very  centre  by 
two  sleeping,  silvery  lakes.  In  their  pale,  unruffled  surfaces 
lie  mirrored,  not  only  the  fleecy  clouds  of  a  turquoise  sky, 
and  the  rushes  and  willows  along  their  curving  banks,  but  the 
dark  towers  and  extended  battlements  of  an  ancient,  moss- 
grown,  fortress-city,  crowded  upon  a  peninsula  that  juts 
northward  like  an  island  between  the  encircling,  protecting 
waters.  It  is  the  city  of  Virgil,  of  Isabella  d'Este,  and  Giulio 
Romano,  of  the  warrior-princes  of  Gonzaga  —  soldiers, 
statesmen,  Dukes,  and  Imperial  Vicars-General, —  and  of 
that  stupendous,  incredible  palace-fortress  which  they  made 
the  greatest  and  the  richest  in  the  world. 

400 


MANTOVA  LA  GLORIOSA  401 

Those  are  its  mighty  keeps  and  bastions  and  long  crenel- 
ated walls,  which  lie  reflected  grimly  in  the  eastern  lake, 
stretching  far  along  its  border,  and  farther  inland,  to  the 
heart  of  the  town :  that  vast  congeries  of  castles,  palaces,  tow- 
ers and  chapels,  which  forms  a  city  in  itself,  and  which 
formed  once  a  treasure-house  of  artistic  riches  such  as  Italy 
has  never  since  beheld.  Wall  by  wall,  and  treasure  by  treas- 
ure they  built  it  up,  those  stern,  formidable  Gonzaga  Mar- 
quises and  Dukes,  who  exercised  their  genius  for  war  as 
condottieri,  and  captains-general  for  Italy  at  large;  main- 
taining this  their  own  state  in  peace  and  plenty,  and  bring- 
ing back  j  it  during  hundreds  of  years  the  riches  which  they 
had  gathered  from  less  favoured  realms;  using  those  riches 
for  ever  more  additions  to  this  unparalleled  fortress,  and 
calling  for  its  decoration  generation  after  generation  of  the 
immortal  artists  of  the  Renaissance.  Here  Pisanello,  Al- 
berti,  Mantegna,  Giulio  Romano,  and  Primaticcio  succes- 
sively poured  forth  all  the  beauties  in  their  souls,  to  the  glory 
of  the  Gonzaghi  and  their  house. 

And  here,  in  the  dark,  castellated  pile  upon  the  eastern 
water's  very  edge,  the  mediaeval  donjon  of  the  palace-city, 
dwelt  the  famous  Isabella  d'Este,  wife  of  Marchese  Fran- 
cesco III, — "  the  archetypal  collector  of  the  Renaissance,"  the 
one  with  whom  Mantua  is  perhaps  more  identified  than  any 
other  save  Virgil  himself ;  here  she  came  as  a  bride,  to  gaze 
delighted  over  the  far  stretches  of  the  blue  lake  below,  and 
upon  the  stately  frescoes  with  which  Mantegna  had  beautified 
the  bridal  chamber;  here  she  began  that  unequalled  collec- 
tion of  the  treasures  of  the  Renaissance,  and  that  exquisite 
ornamentation  of  her  private  suites  of  rooms,  which  filled 
Italy  with  admiring  wonder;  here  she  gathered  about  her 
that  splendid  circle  of  artists,  connoisseurs,  and  men  of  let- 
ters and  wit,  which  made  the  Reggia  of  Mantua  second  only 


402  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

to  Urbino  as  "  the  ideal  court  of  the  Renaissance."  Casti- 
glione  1  himself  was  born  close  by  here,  at  Casatico,  and  dwelt 
in  the  ancient  palace  of  his  family  near  the  Piazza  Sordello; 
and  when  Guidobaldo  Montefeltri  and  his  illustrious  spouse, 
Elisabetta  Gonzaga  —  Isabella's  sister  and  beloved  friend  — 
were  driven  forth  from  Urbino  in  1497  by  the  machinations 
of  the  Borgias,  it  was  to  Mantua  that  they  naturally  turned 
their  steps,  to  live  here  in  congenial  exile  until  the  restoration 
of  1503.  To  Isabella's  side  the  widowed  Elisabetta  returned 
finally,  in  1508;  and  it  was  but  8  years  later  that  Guido- 
baldo's  nephew  and  successor,  Duke  Francesco  Maria  della 
Rovere,  driven  forth  in  his  turn  by  Papal  wiles,  repeated 
that  gentle  exile  to  Mantua,  bringing  back  for  a  time  to 
Isabella's  bosom  her  daughter,  and  his  wife,  Leonora.  Cas- 
tiglione  and  other  distinguished  friends  accompanied  them. 
Such  were  some  of  the  noble  members  of  that  historic  circle. 
Ah,  the  memories, —  the  countless,  brilliant,  eventful  mem- 
ories, clustering  thickly  about  those  lichen-grown,  battle- 
mented  walls, —  amidst  whose  desolate  solitudes  every  echoing 
sad  step  seems  to  call  forth  gay  sounds  and  visions  of  that 
momentous  era!  Gone  is  every  portable  treasure  of  that 
marvellous  collection, —  stolen  by  the  imperialists  in  the 
awful  sack  of  1630,  or  sold  or  given  away  by  the  extravagant 
later  princes  of  the  line;  but  still  left  to  us,  thank  heaven, 
are  the  things  they  could  not  steal  nor  sell, —  the  buildings 
of  Alberti,  the  frescoes  of  Mantegna,   the  Palazzo  Te  of 

1  Baldassare  Castiglione,  author  of  the  "  Cortegiano,"  was  born 
Nov.  6,  1478,  in  the  old  castle  of  Casatico,  12  miles  southwest  of 
Mantua,  which  was  one  of  the  hereditary  seats  of  his  distinguished 
family;  for  its  origin,  see  Castiglione  d'Olona.  He  spent  the  earlier 
and  later  years  of  his  brilliant  life  at  the  palace  on  the  Via  Pradello 
which  had  been  given  to  his  grandfather  by  Marchese  Lodovico  III. 
(Both  edifices  are  now  destroyed.)  —  The  intervening  years  were 
passed  by  him  at  the  Court  of  Urbino. 


MANTOVA  LA  GLORIOSA  403 

Giulio  Romano, —  unique  marvel  of  its  time  —  and  the  won- 
drous ceiling-decorations  of  the  palace-city,  including  the 
"  Grotta  "  and  the  "  Paradiso  "  suites  of  Isabella. 

These  shallow,  rush-bordered  lakes  of  Mantua  are,  after 
all,  but  widenings  of  the  Mincio  River,  which  brings  the 
waters  of  the  Lake  of  Garda  in  slow  meanderings  to  the  Po, 
constituting  thus  one  of  the  plain's  principal  lines  of  defence. 
Issuing  from  the  lake's  southeastern  corner,  by  the  island  of 
Peschiera,  it  flows  sinuously  southward  until,  reaching  the 
fen-land  at  the  latter's  southwestern  angle,  it  spreads  itself 
semicircularly  northward  and  eastward  in  the  shape  of  a  vast 
horseshoe;  from  whose  far,  southeastern  end  the  river  re- 
continues,  to  fall  into  the  Po  a  dozen  miles  beyond.  From 
the  northwestern  extremity  of  the  peninsular  city  there  ex- 
tends a  mediaeval  bridge  across  the  mile  of  water,  constructed 
as  long  ago  as  11 83;  which  is  as  much  a  dam  as  a  bridge, 
confining  the  upper  waters  at  a  higher  level,  whence  they 
escape  to  the  lower  through  twelve  ancient  mills, —  placed 
equidistant,  and  adorned  each  with  a  statue  of  an  Apostle, — 
whose  wheels  have  been  turned  for  seven  centuries  by  the 
falling  current.  Hence  the  name  of  Ponte  del  Molino. 
Another  ancient  bridge  crosses  midway  the  eastern  waters, 
leading  from  the  very  foot  of  that  grim,  castellated  donjon 
ci  the  palace-fortress,  in  which  Isabella  dwelt  as  a  bride, — 
the  Ponte  S.  Giorgic,  From  these  two  traverses  result  the 
three  names,  of  Lake  Superiore  —  to  the  west, —  Lago  di 
Mezzo  —  on  the  north  side, —  and  Lago  Inferiore,  upon  the 
east. 

On  the  south  side  of  the  city  its  isolation  was  completed, 
in  former  days,  by  the  digging  of  a  deep  moat  across  the 
neck  of  the  peninsula,  from  one  lake  to  the  other,  accom- 
panied by  the  usual  protecting  walls.  It  was  thus  veritably 
an   island-fortress,    impregnable    to   everything   but    famine. 


404  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

For  this  reason  it  was  later  constituted  by  the  Austrians  an 
important  member  of  that  famous  "  Quadrilateral,"  which 
was  the  backbone  of  their  power  in  Lombardy;  of  it  the 
Mincio  was  their  western  line  of  defence,  guarded  by  the 
two  island-fortresses  of  Mantua  and  Peschiera  at  its  extrem- 
ities. Within  it  they  retreated,  whenever  threatened  by  vic- 
torious or  superior  forces;  and  over  it  many  a  momentous 
battle  has  been  fought  in  the  past  two  centuries, —  the  most 
important  struggles  centering  in  the  possession  of  Mantua. 

The  history  of  the  marsh-city,  throughout  its  countless 
ages  of  miasmatic  exhalations,  mosquito-plagues  and  malarial 
fevers, —  all  of  which  the  people  endured  cheerfully  for  the 
sake  of  its  impregnability  to  man, —  has  been  as  exceptional 
as  its  location.  The  savage  maiden  to  whom  Dante  refers 
as  its  mythical  founder,  was  Manto,  the  daughter  of  Tiresias 
of  Thebes  (also  called  Beanoi),  from  whom  she  received  her 
knowledge  of  magic;  the  destruction  of  Thebes  caused  her 
to  flee  to  Italy,  and  seek  a  secure  refuge  for  the  practice  of 
her  black  art  in  the  swamps  of  the  Mincio.  According  to 
Virgil,  however,  she  was  not  a  virgin-witch,  but  was  married 
to  the  river-god  of  Tiber,  by  whom  she  had  a  son  called 
Ocnus ;  and  he  it  was  who  founded  Mantua,  naming  it  after 
his  mother.     Ariosto  places  these  words  in  her  mouth: 

"I  am  thy  kin;  for,  of  the  lineage  clear, 
Derived  of  haughty  Cadmus'  seed  are  we. 
I  am  the  fairy  Manto,  that  whilere 
Laid   the   first  stone   of  this  rude  villagery." 2 

In  truth,  the  origin  of  Mantua  is  so  remote  as  to  be  lost 
in  the  mists  of  prehistoric  times;  its  secure  situation  made  it 
one  of  the  first  settled  towns  in  Lombardy.  It  was  one  of 
the  chief  cities  of  the  Etruscans,  when  they  first  came  down 

2  "Orlando  Furioso,"  Canto  XLIII;  Rose's  Trans. 


MANTOVA  LA  GLORIOSA  405 

from  the  north,  and  dwelt  in  this  part  of  the  plain ;  and  when, 
pushed  by  the  advancing  Celts,  that  nation  crossed  the  Apen- 
nines, their  people  of  Mantua  refused  to  go,  deeming  them- 
selves safe  enough  in  their  marsh-fortress ;  the  proof  of  which 
is  that  up  to  the  age  of  Livy,  and  considerably  later,  they 
still  spoke  the  Etruscan  dialect. 

At  the  period  of  the  Roman  conquest  of  the  Celts,  Mantua 
was  about  their  last  stronghold  to  yield,  not  bowing  under 
the  Latin  yoke  until  197  B.  C,  at  the  end  of  the  final  strug- 
ble.  In  70  B.  C,  when  Virgil  was  born  near-by,  the  city 
had  long  become  thoroughly  Latinised.  His  actual  birth- 
place was  a  little  village  called  Andes, —  now  generally  iden- 
tified with  Pietole,  3  miles  to  the  southeast  upon  the  Mincio, 
—  where  his  father  was  a  small  but  intelligent  farmer. 
"  His  boyhood  was  spent  on  the  banks  of  the  winding  Mincio, 
in  a  quiet  round  of  rural  pursuits. —  Alive  to  the  importance 
of  education,  Virgil's  parents  set  aside  a  portion  of  their 
slender  means  to  provide  for  his  instruction."  3  He  went  to 
school  at  Cremona  first,  then  at  Rome ;  and  on  returning  to 
Mantua,  "  amid  the  natural  attractions  that  surrounded  him, 
he  conceived  the  idea  of  rivalling  Theocritus  in  bucolic 
poetry,  and  in  42  B.  C.  began  his  Eclogues."  The  love  of 
his  native  city  —  as  he  regarded  Mantua  —  increased  upon 
him  with  age;  and  in  two  of  his  immortal  lines  he  has  cele- 
brated her  glory  to  all  posterity: 

"  Mantua,  Musarum  domus,  atque  ad  sidera  cantu 
Evecta  Aeonio,  et  Smyrnaeis  aemula  plectris."  4 

With  the  coming  of  the  civil  wars,  and  the  defeat  of 
Brutus  and  Cassius,  Octavius  and  Antony  seized  for  their 

3  Quackenbos'   "  Ancient  Literature." 

4 "  Mantua,  home  of  the  Muses,  raised  to  the  stars  in  Aeonian 
song  and  rival  of  the  music  of  Smyrna." 


4o6  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

soldiers,  not  only  the  lands  of  Cremona,  as  already  narrated, 
but  some  of  Mantua's;  including  the  farm  inherited  by  Virgil 
from  his  father.  By  personal  intercession  with  Octavius  the 
poet  procured  its  restoration.  But,  "  shortly  after,  Virgil 
was  ejected  again,  and  this  time  narrowly  escaped  with  his 
life  by  swimming  the  Mincio  (owing  to  the  violence  of  the 
soldier  who  took  possession).  Nor  does  he  appear  to  have 
been  ever  reinstated.  Octavius,  however,  loaded  him  with 
favours;  and  a  house  in  Rome  near  the  palace  of  his  friend 
Maecenas,  with  a  lovely  villa  in  the  suburbs  of  Naples, — 
reconciled  him  to  the  loss  of  his  boyhood's  home."  5  "  Two 
of  the  Eclogues,  the  first  and  the  ninth,  are  written  in  con- 
nection with  these  events.  They  give  expression  to  the  sense 
of  disorder,  insecurity  and  distress,  which  —  accompanied 
these  forced  divisions  and  alienations  of  land."  6 —  As  all  the 
world  knows,  the  poet  eventually  died,  and  was  buried,  at 
his  Neapolitan  villa. 

Under  the  Roman  Empire,  and  its  decline  and  fall,  Man- 
tua remained  secure  until  the  conquest  of  the  Lombards, 
when  it  was  taken  and  sacked  by  Alboin,  whose  rude  soldiery 
destroyed  in  a  day  the  accumulated  riches  and  intellectual 
treasures  of  800  years.  Upon  the  downfall  of  the  Lombards 
Charlemagne  seized  the  city,  and  is  said  to  have  been  so 
struck  with  its  inaccessible  position  that  he  ordered  its  elab- 
orate fortification.  Toward  the  close  of  the  10th  century  the 
Emperor  Otho  II  bestowed  it  upon  Tebaldo,  Count  of  Ca- 
nossa,  of  that  famous  family  which  "  accumulated  fiefs  that 
stretched  from  Mantua  across  the  plain  of  Lombardy,  over 
the  Apennines  to  Lucca,  and  southward  to  Spoleto." 7 
These  descended  to  Tebaldo's  granddaughter,  the  celebrated 

5  Quackenbos'  "  Ancient  Literature." 

6  Sellar's   "  Poets  of  the  Augustan   Age." 

7  Symonds'   "  Age   of  the   Despots." 


MANTOVA  LA  GLORIOSA  407 

Countess  Matilda  of  Tuscany,  who  founded  by  her  grant 
the  states  of  the  Church.8  Mantua,  however,  asserted 
her  independence  after  Matilda's  death,  becoming  a  Lom- 
bard republic,  governed  by  its  elected  consuls.  Owing 
to  its  secure  position  it  steadily  flourished  and  increased  in 
size  and  power,  during  the  whole  of  the  1 2th  century;  for 
the  same  reason  of  location  it  had  few  noble  families,  so  that 
the  popolo  grasso  retained  control,  with  their  accustomed 
leaning  to  the  Guelfic  cause. 

In  1 167,  by  her  consuls,  Mantua  joined  the  first  League 
of  Lombardy,  and  fought  bravely  against  Frederick  Bar- 
barossa.  In  1183  she  divided  her  lakes  by  the  dam  of  Ponte 
del  Molino,  with  its  12  mills.  In  1226  she  joined  in  renew- 
ing the  League  against  Frederick  II ;  but  1 1  years  later, 
upon  the  approach  and  the  seizure  of  the  city  by  that  emperor, 
she  was  for  the  first  time  turned  over  to  Ghibelline  control, 
under  the  wealthy  families  who  had  embraced  that  faction. 
After  Frederick's  departure,  however,  she  soon  again  turned 
Guelf,  joining  in  the  Guelfic  combinations  against  Ezzelino 
da  Romano,  from  1247  until  his  overthrow  in  1259.  Find- 
ing it  necessary  during  this  warfare  to  have  a  noble  captain 
of  her  forces,  she  chose  the  Guelfic  Count  of  S.  Bonifazio, 
who  was  therefore  for  some  time  the  practical  ruler  of  the 
city.  Though  she  regained  self-mastery  after  his  death,  Man- 
tua was  soon,  in  1274,  overcome  by  Mastino  della  Scala  of 
Verona,  who  sent  his  brother  Alberto  to  act  as  the  town's 
actual  ruler;  but  upon  Mastino's  assassination,  in  1277,  and 
Alberto's  consequent  return  to  Verona  to  take  up  the  reins 
of  government,  Mantua  rose  and  threw  off  the  Scala  yoke, 
appointing  Pinamonte  Buonacolsi,  the  head  of  the  local  fam- 
ily of  that  name,  to  be  her  Capitano. 

8  See  also  beginning  of  next  chapter,  for  further  account  of 
Matilda. 


4o8  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

The  Buonacolsi  were  not  long  in  transforming  the  power 
thus  acquired  into  a  genuine  despotism ;  and  so  perished  the 
liberties  of  the  people.  Guido  Buonacolsi,  surnamed  Bot- 
tigella,  in  1302  commenced  the  building  of  that  great  palace 
on  the  Piazza  Sordello,  which  proved  to  be  only  the  embryo 
and  nucleus  of  the  subsequent  Reggia  of  the  Gonzaghi. 
Rinaldo,  who  followed  him,  eagerly  supported  Emperor 
Henry  VII  upon  the  latter's  visit  to  Lombardy  in  1 3 10, 
receiving  in  reward  his  appointment  as  Mantua's  first  Im- 
perial Vicar;  which  was  confirmed  by  Louis  of  Bavaria  in 
1327.  In  spite  of  this  legalisation  of  the  Buonacolsi's  au- 
thority, as  soon  as  Louis'  back  was  turned  in  the  following 
year,  by  his  descent  into  Tuscany,  they  lost  everything  by 
that  one  supreme  stroke  of  fate,  or  craft,  which  determined 
the  future  and  the  glory  of  Mantua, —  which  influenced  all 
Lombard  history  for  400  years,  and  without  which  the 
marsh-city  would  probably  be  a  town  insignificant  and  un- 
noticed. 

Prominent  among  the  so-called  noble  families  of  the  city 
was  that  of  Gonzaga,  which  had  already  been  wealthy  for 
several  generations,  and  was  distinguished,  then  and  for  cen- 
turies afterward,  by  the  keen,  resolute,  courageous  quality 
of  its  manhood ;  "  born  fighters  "  were  always  the  sons  of  the 
Gonzaghi,  and  exceptionally  fertile  was  the  stock.  Luigi 
Gonzaga,  at  this  time  head  of  the  family,  had  well  served 
his  master,  Passerino  Buonacolsi,  and  stood  high  in  the  des- 
pot's favour.  The  tyrant  himself  found  not  such  favour 
with  the  people,  both  on  account  of  his  cruelties  and  exactions, 
and  because  the  people  were  still  mainly  Guelf  in  sentiment. 
Yet  he  would  doubtless  have  kept  his  throne,  had  he  not 
mortally  affronted  the  Gonzaghi  by  insulting  one  of  their 
wives.  They  were  not  men  to  be  deterred  by  any  sort  of 
fear   or  danger   from  seeking  to  avenge   such   a  dishonour. 


MANTOVA  LA  GLORIOSA  409 

Secretly  they  incited  the  populace  to  a  rebellion,  which  broke 
out  in  a  furious  tumult  on  Aug.  14,  1328.  The  Gonzaghi 
and  their  adherents  repaired  to  the  palace  as  if  to  assist  Pas- 
serino  in  putting  down  the  uprising,  and  were  unsuspectingly 
admitted.  Surrounding  the  despot,  to  keep  at  a  distance  the 
faithful  nobles  and  his  German  guards,  Luigi  Gonzaga  him- 
self suddenly  drew  his  dagger  and  stabbed  the  libertine  to 
the  heart.  Aided  by  the  maddened  people,  he  had  then 
little  difficulty  in  slaying  or  driving  from  the  city  the  rest  of 
the  Buonacolsi  and  their  few  steadfast  friends. 

The  Mantuans,  wild  with  joy,  at  once  unanimously  chose 
Luigi  Gonzaga  to  be  their  new  ruler.  He  proceeded  to 
make  his  peace  with  Emperor  Louis,  and  succeeded  in  so  do- 
ing; for  when  Louis  returned  to  Lombardy  in  the  following 
year,  he  confirmed  the  Gonzaga's  usurpation,  appointing  him 
to  be  his  Imperial  Vicar  in  the  place  of  the  dead  Buonacolsi. 
Luigi  ruled  wisely,  making  the  prosperity  of  the  state  his 
objective,  indulging  in  no  vicious  practices,  and  training  his 
descendants  to  be  clean,  manly,  well-educated  men.  This 
example  was  followed  by  Guido,  his  son,  and  all  succeeding 
Gonzaghi;  so  that  the  people  were  both  proud  of,  and  devoted 
to,  their  considerate  masters, —  an  extraordinary  thing  in 
Italy  of  the  Renaissance.  Guido  showed  the  family  desire 
for  culture  by  his  friendship  for  Petrarch,  of  whom  he  made 
much;  and  exhibited  their  remarkable  ability  as  soldiers 
by  his  successful  leadership  of  the  Mantuan  forces  in  the 
wars  which  now  occurred  with  the  Visconti.  He  kept  the 
warfare  away  from  his  own  territory,  so  that  the  latter 
steadily  flourished ;  and  Mantua  increased  to  a  prosperous 
city  of  some  30,000  inhabitants,  ruling  the  plain  from  Cre- 
mona and  the  Po  to  Verona  and  the  Euganean  Hills. 

His  successors  followed  this  wise  precedent,  doing  their 
fighting  away  from  home  and  bringing  the  fruits  back  to  it; 


4io  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

while  at  the  same  time  they  bettered  themselves  steadily  in 
learning  and  statecraft.  The  result  was  to  make  Mantua 
so  powerful  in  the  time  of  Gian  Galeazzo  Visconti,  that  he, 
in  his  scheming  to  enslave  all  Italy,  did  not  dare  attack  the 
city  openly ;  but  approached  her  secretly,  by  trying  to  destroy 
the  devotion  of  the  Mantuans  to  their  rulers.  The  fourth 
Francesco  Gonzaga  was  then  head  of  the  state.  Against 
him,  in  1389,  "  Gian  Galeazzo  devised  a  diabolical  plot.  By 
forged  letters  and  subtly  contrived  incidents  he  caused  Fran- 
cesco to  suspect  his  wife  of  infidelity  with  his  secretary.  In 
a  fit  of  jealous  rage  Francesco  ordered  the  execution  of  his 
wife  —  together  with  the  secretary.  Then  he  discovered  the 
Visconti's  hand.  But  it  was  too  late.-"  9  Nevertheless,  al- 
though Francesco  was  by  these  means  somewhat  discredited 
with  his  people,  they  neither  then  nor  at  any  other  time 
plotted  to  rid  themselves  of  the  Gonzaga  leadership;  their 
devotion  lay  too  deep  for  that. 

In  1393  this  same  Francesco  began  the  erection  of  that 
grim,  battlemented  donjon-castle  on  the  shore  of  the  eastern 
lake,  called  now  simply  "  II  Castello" —  already  mentioned 
as  Isabella's  first  residence;  the  author  of  its  gothic  design 
being  that  Bartolino  da  Novara  who  constructed,  upon  sim- 
ilar lines,  the  mighty  "  Castello  Rosso  "  of  the  Estensi  at 
Ferrara.  Francesco  also  rebuilt  the  ancient  bridge  of  S. 
Giorgio,  leading  eastward  from  the  Castello's  foot,  and  re- 
paired the  grand  old  Duomo  on  Piazza  Sordello;  whose 
gothic  lines  were  subsequently  altered  by  Giulio  Romano  to 
its  present  Renaissance  type.  In  1397  Gian  Galeazzo  Vis- 
conti, his  machinations  having  failed  in  their  desired  effect, 
suddenly  attacked  Mantua  without  warning,  ravaging  her 
territory  with  fire  and  sword  before  the  Gonzaghi  could 
take  the  field ;  when  they  did  so,  the  Milanese  were  so  harshly 

8  Symonds'    "  Age   of   the   Despots." 


MANTOVA  LA  GLORIOSA  411 

treated  that  the  Visconti  soon  gave  in  and  signed  a  truce. 
His  death  in  1402  put  an  end  to  that  trouble. 

In  1406  the  Castello  was  completed;  and  the  following 
year  Francesco  died,  being  succeeded  by  his  son  Gianfran- 
cesco  II,  who  "  was  raised  to  the  dignity  of  Marquis  when 
the  Emperor  Sigismund  visited  Mantua  in  1433.  He 
strengthened  the  fortifications  oi  the  city,  drained  the  marshes 
(to  some  extent)  and  encouraged  agriculture,  and  the  manu- 
facture of  cloth, —  which  remained  the  staple  industry  of 
Mantua  until  the  sack  of  1630.  Like  most  of  the  Gonzaga 
princes,  he  served  the  rival  states  of  Venice  and  Lombardy 
alternately."  10  The  successive  Gonzaghi  made  a  specialty, 
a  profound  study,  of  the  practices  and  art  of  war,  attaining 
such  skill  in  the  leadership  of  armies  that  when  any  north- 
Italian  state  engaged  in  a  new  struggle,  it  called  upon  the 
Marquis  of  Mantua  to  act  as  generalissimo,  almost  as  a  mat- 
ter of  course.  High  pay  and  abundant  plunder  were  the 
Gonzaga  rewards,  but  still  more,  the  safety  of  their  own 
state,  which  few  were  bold  enough  to  attack.  Hallam  im- 
putes the  long  security  of  Mantuan  territory  to  the  fact  that 
her  rulers  never  exerted  themselves  to  extend  its  bound- 
aries ; xl  but  the  causes  were  also  the  devotion  of  its  people, 
the  martial  renown  of  its  princes,  and  their  habit  of  indulg- 
ing their  warlike  propensities  away  from  home. 

From  1426  onwards  Gianfrancesco  II  was  engaged,  on 
behalf  of  his  own  state,  Venice  and  their  allies,  in  combat- 
ing and  defeating  the  ambitious  designs  of  Filippo  Maria 
Visconti ;  but  he  found  plenty  of  time  for  other  pursuits  also, 
being  the  most  cultured  Gonzaga  who  had  yet  ruled.  In 
1425  he  brought  to  Mantua,  for  the  education  of  his  chil- 
dren, that  renowned  and  truly  great  scholar  of  the  Renais- 

10  Julia  Carrwright's  "Isabella  d'Este." 
^Hallam's  "Middle  Ages,"  Vol.  I. 


4i2  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

sance,  Vittorino  da  Feltre ;  an  act  by  which  "  the  court  of 
Mantua  took  rank  among  the  high  schools  of  humanism  in 
Italy,"  12  and  which  had  the  most  important  results,  in  the 
exceeding  culture  of  the  next  Gonzaga  generation.  "  The 
system  supervised  by  Vittorino  included  not  only  the  ac- 
quisition of  scholarship,  but  also  training  in  manly  sports 
and  the  cultivation  of  the  moral  character.  Many  of  the 
noblest  Italians  were  his  pupils.  Ghiberto  da  Correggio, 
Battista  Pallavicini,  Taddeo  Manfredi  of  Faenza,  Gabbri- 
ello  da  Cremona,  Francesco  da  Castiglione,  Niccolo  Per- 
rotti,  together  with  (Federigo)  the  Count  of  Montefeltro, 
lived  in  Vittorino's  house,  associating  with  the  poorer  stu- 
dents whom  the  benevolent  philosopher  instructed  for  the 
love  of  learning."  In  such  a  brilliant  school  Federigo  de' 
Montefeltri  and  Lodovico  Gonzaga,  the  next  marquis,  ac- 
quired that  profound  love  of  learning  and  the  arts,  that 
strength  of  character  and  body,  which  distinguished  them 
through  life.  At  10  years  of  age,  it  is  said,  they  already 
wrote  Greek  with  fluency. 

Gianfrancesco  II  showed  the  Gonzaga  love  for  princely 
building  by  continuing  on  a  huge  scale  the  erection  of  their 
palace-city,  and  constructing  churches,  dykes,  and  other  pub- 
lic edifices;  for  these  purposes  he  brought  the  great  Brunel- 
leschi  of  Florence  twice  to  Mantua,  and  the  equally  distin- 
guished Leon  Battista  Alberti  a  number  of  times.  On  one 
of  these  visits  Alberti  designed  the  splendid  church  of  S. 
Andrea;  on  another,  that  of  S.  Sebastiano,  and  the  beautiful 
chapel  of  the  Incoronata  in  the  Duomo.  In  1444  Lodovico 
II  succeeded  to  the  marquisate  which  Sigismund  had  granted 
his  father  (for  12,000  gold  florins)  and  continued  in  his 
father's  brilliant  way,  with  increased  success ;  giving  Mantua 
33   years  of  prosperity  and   fair   renown.     Under  him   the 

12  J.  A.  Symonds'  "  Renaissance  in  Italy." 


MANTOVA  LA  GLORIOSA  413 

Palazzo  Belvidere  was  added  to  the  palace-city,  the  enor- 
mous hospital  was  erected,  and  various  royal  villas  were 
built  here  and  there  in  the  country,  by  the  Tuscan  architect 
Luca  Francelli,  to  meet  the  new  fashion  of  princely  villeg- 
giatura.  Lodovico  brought  Donatello  to  Mantua,  who  stayed 
nearly  two  years,  executing  various  small  pieces  for  the  Gon- 
zaghi,  now  scattered  or  lost,  and  beginning  a  fine  Area  of  S. 
Anselmo  in  the  Cathedral.  In  1459  Lodovico  accomplished 
a  still  more  important  stroke,  in  securing  Andrea  Mantegna, 
fresh  from  his  success  at  the  Eremetani  chapel  in  Padua; 
and  so  much  was  made  of  the  great  painter,  so  fully  were  all 
his  desires  met,  that  he  lived  at  Mantua  until  he  died,  in 
1506. 

Mantegna's  work,  unfortunately,  was  nearly  always  done 
upon  canvas;  but  several  years  after  his  arrival  he  undertook 
that  frescoing  of  the  Camera  degli  Sposi,  or  bridal-chamber 
of  Lodovico,  in  the  Castello,  which  delighted  Isabella's  eyes 
when  she  came  to  it  in  1490,  and  which  still  remains  to 
delight  the  world  at  large.  In  it  are  depicted,  with  true 
Mantegnesque  accuracy  and  realism,  Lodovico  and  his  good 
German  spouse,  Barbara,  his  grown  sons  Federigo,  Rodolfo 
and  Gianfrancesco,  his  youthful  son  Lodovico,  and  the  three 
daughters.  In  1478,  while  one  of  the  periodical  visitations 
of  plague  was  ravaging  Mantua,  Lodovico  died  at  his  villa 
of  Goito,  where  he  had  sought  refuge,  and  was  succeeded 
by  his  eldest  son,  Federigo,  above  mentioned ;  whom  we  hear 
little  of,  except  for  his  vain  endeavour  as  a  youth  to  escape 
from  marrying  Margherita  of  Bavaria,13  and  who  survived 
his  father  only  6  years.     In    1484,   then,   the  elder  son  of 

13  Recent  researches  amongst  the  Gonzaga  archives  seem  to  es- 
tablish the  falsity  of  this  ancient  story  of  Federigo's  fleeing  to  Naples 
from  a  girl  he  had  never  seen,  his  misery  there  from  penury  and 
sickness,  his  discovery  by  agents,  and  return  home. 


4i4  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

Federigo  and  Margherlta,  the  young  Gianfrancesco  III, 
came  to  the  throne, —  known  usually  as  Marchese  Francesco; 
one  of  the  most  talented  and  upright  men  of  his  line,  and 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  princes  of  the  high-Renaissance. 
He  acceded  as  a  youth,  and  did  not  marry  until  1490;  when 
he  performed  the  most  momentous  act  of  his  illustrious  reign 
by  bringing  to  the  grim  Castello  as  a  bride,  the  fascinating, 
peerless  Isabella  d'Este. 

She  was  a  daughter  of  Ercole  I,  Duke  of  Ferrara,  and 
Eleonora  of  Aragon,  and  a  sister  of  Alfonso,  the  next  duke, 
Ippolito,  the  cardinal,  and  the  younger  Beatrice,  who  about 
the  same  time  married  Lodovico  Sforza.  In  Isabella's  ex- 
traordinary union  of  grace,  beauty,  and  accomplishments  of 
every  nature,  with  a  mind  renowned  for  its  learning,  its  wit, 
its  taste  and  keen  intelligence,  animated  by  a  soul  of  the 
highest  and  strongest  character,  her  personality  not  only  took 
immediate  possession  of  the  Mantua  of  her  day,  but  ranged 
far  and  wide  throughout  Italy,  as  a  power  and  an  inspiration 
in  the  world  of  politics,  science,  art  and  letters.  But  who  in 
the  space  of  a  few  pages  can  do  justice  to  such  a  paragon! 
One  can  only  say  that  she  was  the  personification  of  the 
female  virtues,  wisdom,  and  abilities  of  her  time, —  the  ideal 
Woman  of  the  Renaissance. 

"  During  40  years  Isabella  d'Este  played  an  important 
part  in  the  history  of  her  times,  and  made  the  little  court  of 
Mantua  famous  in  the  eyes  of  the  "/hole  civilised  world. 
Her  close  relationship  with  the  reigning  families  of  Milan 
and  Naples,  Ferrara  and  Urbino,  and  her  constant  intercourse 
with  popes  and  monarchs,  made  her  position  one  of  peculiar 
importance.  And  poets  and  painters  alike  gave  her  of  their 
best.  Castiglione,  Niccolo  da  Correggio,  Bembo  and  Bib- 
biena  were  among  her  constant  correspondents.  Aldo  printed 
Virgils  and  Petrarchs  for  her  use.     Lorenzo  da  Pavia  made 


MANTOVA  LA  GLORIOSA  415 

her  musical  instruments  of  unrivalled  beauty  and  sweet- 
ness." 14  While,  in  the  sphere  of  art,  she  ransacked  Italy 
for  her  collections,  patronised  the  greatest  painters,  kept  a 
score  of  them  ever  dancing  attendance,  in  person  or  by  corre- 
spondence, and  decorated  her  palace  to  the  envy  of  Europe, 
with  works  of  every  character,  executed  according  to  her  own 
directions. 

Francesco  "  provided  for  her  residence  only  a  rugged  for- 
tress,—  and  her  first  care  was  to  make  in  the  Castello  a 
small  and  elegant  retreat,  to  be  devoted  to  meditation,  work, 
and  intellectual  pursuits."  15  This  she  effected  with  a  little 
room  adjacent  to  the  Camera  dcgli  Sposi,  which  was  ex- 
quisitely decorated  under  her  orders,  and  received  gradually 
the  nucleus  of  her  collection  of  art-treasures;  this  was  the 
"  studiolo,  which  is  so  often  mentioned  in  Isabella's  letters, — 
the  peaceful  retreat  where  she  and  Elisabetta  Gonzaga  spent 
their  happiest  hours,  surrounded  by  the  books  and  pictures, 
the  cameos  and  musical  instruments,  that  they  loved."  15a  In 
these  chambers,  overlooking  the  long,  blue-green  reach  of  the 
marshy  lake,  Isabella  spent  a  large  part  of  her  married  life, 
until  her  noble  husband  died,  in  1519.  Then  she  removed 
to  a  suite  of  16  rooms  near  the  western  front  of  the  Reg- 
gia,  and  devoted  herself  to  the  decoration  of  her  famous 
"  Grotta"  on  the  ground-floor:  a  combination  of  chambers 
and  cortile,  in  which  she  placed  her  countless  dazzling  treas- 
ures to  great  advantage, —  as  many  a  connoisseur  of  the  period 
has  testified,  with  due  expressions  of  amazement.  This  place 
was  so  kept  until  long  after  her  death;  but  upon  her  son 
Federigo's  marriage,   she   again   moved   her   dwelling-apart- 

14  Julia   Cartwright's  "Isabella   d'Este." 

15  «  Wall  Decorations  of  the  15th  and  16th  Centuries"  ;  Charles 
Yriarte  on  the  "Paradiso"  of  Isabella  d'Este. 

15a Julia  Cartwright's  "Isabella  d'Este." 


4i6  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

ments,  to  an  inner,  lofty  suite,  in  the  Palazzo  Belvidere, — 
one  of  the  newer,  connecting  buildings  between  the  Corte 
Vecchio  and  the  Castello  (now  united  into  one  vast  en- 
closure) where,  again  overlooking  her  beloved  lake,  she  con- 
structed her  final  and  most  lovely  retreat  of  the  "  Paradiso  " : 
"  a  private  sanctuary,  in  which  she  might  give  herself  more 
liberty  than  ever  for  meditation,  writing,  singing,  and  poetry, 
when  inclined  to  do  so,  and  thus  escape  into  a  small  and 
select  circle  from  the  glare  of  the  court. —  These  three  small 
rooms,  exquisitely  elegant,  real  shrines  streaming  with  gold, 
delicately  chiselled,  furnished  for  and  by  her,  in  which  every 
detail  was  to  reflect  her  tastes  and  her  thought, —  became 
the  object  of  her  predilection;  and  it  is  amidst  such  surround- 
ings, the  real  "  paradise  "  of  Isabella  d'Este,  that  historians 
must  place  her  portrait."  15b 

"  Isabella  herself  was  Estense,  but  she  was  a  born  con- 
naisseuse  as  well. —  She  had  Mantegna  at  her  hand  to  select 
antiques  for  her  —  she  set  on  her  cardinal-brother  to  watch 
the  young  Michelangelo's  career  in  Rome,  and  surprise,  if 
possible,  the  secret  of  the  buried  Cupid;  she  sat  in  the  jewel- 
casket-like  rooms  of  her  Paradiso,  and  prepared  long-winded 
instructions  framed  by  attendant  humanists  for  the  worri- 
ment  of  the  painters  who  composed  her  allegories;  she  care- 
fully measured  with  her  own  hands  the  wall-panels  of  her 
Grotta,  and,  trusting  to  no  figures,  sent  ribbons  of  the  exact 
length  to  Perugino,  accompanying  the  aforesaid  instructions. 
—  She  had  Leonardo  for  her  visitor,  and  Titian  for  her  por- 
trait painter,  and,  to  her  honour  as  a  connaisseuse,  she  recog- 
nised the  talent  of  a  Correggio  when  a  Bembo,  with  all  his 
assumption  of  art-knowledge,  passed  him  by  unheeding.  She 
sent  to  Aldus  for  new  editions,  read  the  first  printed  De- 
cameron, and  patronised  Ariosto  and  Castiglione;  did  ever 

15b  Julia  Cartwright's  "Isabella  d'Este." 


MANTOVA  LA  GLORIOSA  417 

a  ducal  blue-stocking  have  so  royal  a  time?"16  "The 
works  of  Mantegna  and  Costa,  of  Giovanni  Bellini  and 
Michelangiolo,  of  Perugino  and  Correggio,  adorned  her 
rooms.  Giovanni  Santi,  Mantegna,  Francia  and  Costa  all 
in  turn  painted  portraits  of  her."  17 

Her  family  life  was  exceptionally  happy;  for  her  husband, 
despite  a  few  infidelities,  deemed  of  trifling  importance  in  a 
prince  of  that  epoch,  was  a  man  of  sterling  worth.  "  The 
house  of  Gonzaga  " —  as  Burckhardt  said  — "  and  that  of 
Montefeltro  at  Urbino,  were  among  the  best  ordered  and 
richest  in  men  of  ability,  during  the  second  half  of  the  15th 
century.  The  Gonzaghi  were  a  tolerably  harmonious  fam- 
ily; for  a  long  period  no  murder  had  been  known  among 
them,  and  their  dead  could  be  shown  to  the  world  without 
fear.  The  Marquis  Francesco  and  his  wife  —  in  spite  of 
some  few  irregularities,  were  a  united  and  respected  couple, 
and  brought  up  their  sons  to  be  successful  and  remarkable 
men  at  a  time  when  their  small  but  most  important  state  was 
exposed  to  incessant  danger."  Francesco  adopted  "  a  policy 
of  exceptional  honesty, —  he  felt  and  acted  as  an  Italian  pa- 
triot, and  imparted  the  same  spirit  to  his  wife. —  Her  own 
letters  show  her  to  us  as  a  woman  of  unshaken  firmness,  full 
of  kindliness  and  humorous  observation.  Bembo,  Bandello, 
Ariosto  and  Bernardo  Tasso  sent  their  works  to  this  court. — 
A  more  polished  and  charming  circle  was  not  to  be  seen  in 
Italy."  1S 

As  the  times  through  which  they  passed  were  exceptionally 
disturbed  and  dangerous,  owing  to  the  irruptions  and  con- 
quests of  Charles  VIII  and  Louis  XII  of  France,  so  Fran- 
cesco's career  as  a  soldier  was  more  stormy  and  distinguished 

16  Blashfield's  "Italian   Cities." 

17  Julia  Cartwright's  "  Isabella   d'Este." 
18Burckhardt's  "Renaissance  in  Italy." 


4i 8  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

than  his  predecessors'.  In  1494-5  he  commanded  the  armies 
of  the  Italian  league  raised  against  Charles  VIII  after  his  sub- 
jugation of  Naples,  dealing  him  the  heavy  blow  of  the  battle 
of  Fornovo,  on  July  6,  1495,  by  which  his  retreat  to  France 
was  sought  to  be  interrupted.  Charles  fought  his  way 
through,  but  at  such  a  terrible  loss  that  he  entered  Italy  no 
more.  The  Italian  losses  were'  still  larger,  over  3,500  dead 
remaining  on  the  field,  and  amongst  them  five  princes  of  the 
Gonzaga  family,  whose  heroism  upon  that  day  earned  them 
immortal  glory.  In  1496—7  Francesco  commanded  the  Ve- 
netian forces.  In  1498  he  saved  his  state  from  the  hungry, 
ferocious  Caesar  Borgia,  who  was  engaged  in  appropriating 
Romagna  and  the  Marches,  by  entering  into  an  intimate 
friendship  with  the  villain ;  forty  of  whose  letters  to  Fran- 
cesco and  Isabella  are  still  to  be  seen  at  Mantua. 

Upon  Louis  the  Twelfth's  conquest  of  Milan,  the  Marquis 
again  saved  himself,  by  an  alliance  with  that  king,  taking 
a  frequent  command  in  the  French  forces  from  1499  to  1507 ; 
in  the  latter  year  he  aided  in  their  reduction  of  Genoa,  and 
also  led  a  papal  army  successfully  against  Bologna.  The 
year  1506  was  marked  at  Mantua  by  the  death  of  Mantegna, 
who  was  succeeded  as  court-painter  by  Lorenzo  Costa  of 
Bologna.  In  1508  Francesco  joined  the  League  of  Cambrai 
against  Venice,  whose  relentless  advance  on  terra  firma  was 
threatening  his  domains ;  and,  after  assisting  to  administer 
that  crushing  defeat  of  the  Republic's  army  at  Aignadel,  on 
May  14,  1509,  he  was  himself  surprised  while  sleeping  in  a 
farmhouse  near  Legnago,  shortly  after,  and  taken  a  prisoner 
to  Venice.  This  emergency  called  forth  all  the  mettle  of 
Isabella,  who  had  to  guide  the  little  state  safely  through  the 
dangers  yawning  upon  every  side,  during  the  several  years  of 
her  husband's  captivity ;  and  nobly  she  performed  the  diffi- 
cult task,  with  infinite  tact,  finesse  and  resolution,  showing 


MANTOVA  LA  GLORIOSA  419 

the  highest  qualities  of  statecraft,  as  it  was  then  practised. 
From  her  own  allies  the  danger  was  greatest  of  all, —  the 
wild  French  troops  continually  overrunning  Mantuan  terri- 
tory, with  barbarous  excesses,  which  threatened  any  day  to 
seize  Mantua  itself.  Isabella  therefore  joined  the  Pope  in 
forming  a  new  league  against  the  conquering  French,  calling 
in  the  Spaniards  to  help  drive  them  from  Lombardy;  Venice 
of  course  was  a  member  of  this  alliance,  and  Francesco  Gon- 
zaga  was  accordingly  released.  Before  he  reached  home, 
however,  the  French  had  been  driven  away,  and  the  victori- 
ous allies  had  met  at  Mantua,  in  August,  15 12; — "where 
a  prolonged  conference  took  place,  and  Isabella  d'Este  dis- 
played her  usual  tact  and  ability  in  the  conduct  of  negotia- 
tions." As  a  result,  her  nephew  Maximilian  Sforza  was 
seated  on  the  throne  of  Milan;  which  he  lost  in  1515,  how- 
ever, upon  the  return  of  the  French  under  Francis  I. 

Francesco  Gonzaga  seems  never  to  have  recovered  entirely 
from  his  harsh  handling  by  the  Venetians;  for  his  last  few 
years  were  now  passed  mostly  upon  a  sick-bed,  requiring 
Isabella  again  to  manage  the  state.  In  15 19  he  died  peace- 
fully, leaving  the  marquisate  to  his  son  Federigo  II,  who 
was  still  a  lad.  Of  him  it  is  said  that  "  without  ever  attain- 
ing to  his  mother's,  or  his  brother  Ercole's,  love  of  learning, 
he  was  decidedly  more  cultured  than  his  father  or  Gonzaga 
uncles;"  he  had  certainly  inherited  the  family  love  of  art, 
and  princely  building,  and  the  family  talents  for  warfare. 
In  the  same  year  Charles  V  became  Emperor,  and  an  agree- 
ment was  at  once  made  with  him  by  the  Pope  and  the 
Gonzaghi,  to  drive  out  the  French  again  and  seat  Francesco 
Sforza,  Isabella's  other  nephew,  on  the  Milanese  throne. 
Federigo  assisted  in  doing  this,  in  1 521,  escorting  his  cousin 
to  the  latter's  dominions  with  much  gallantry,  and  shortly 
afterward    defending   Pavia   with    intrepid    courage   against 


420  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

the  assaults  of  Marshal  Lautrec;  for  which  he  was  given  a 
genuine  triumph  on  his  return  home.  In  1524  he  aided  in 
the  defeat  and  capture  of  Francis  I  at  Pavia;  and  brought 
to  Mantua  Giulio  Romano  to  be  his  court-painter, —  who 
very  soon  commenced  the  building  of  the  celebrated  Palazzo 
del  Te  just  south  of  the  city.  This,  the  principal  monu- 
ment of  Federigo's  reign,  was  first  begun  by  him  as  a  small 
lodge  in  his  park,  and  finally  enlarged  to  a  splendid  palace 
for  the  pleasures  of  his  mistress,  Isabella  Boschetti ;  the  fame 
of  the  beauties  wrought  there  by  Giulio's  fertile  brush  and 
Primaticcio's  stucco  modelling,  soon  spread  far  and  wide ;  and 
it  has  remained  not  only  the  temple  of  their  genius,  but  the 
ideal  example  of  a  great  Renaissance  pleasure-villa. 

In  1525  Isabella  went  to  Rome,  to  secure  a  cardinal's  hat 
for  her  son  Ercole,  and,  though  ultimately  successful,  was  de- 
tained there  two  years,  until  after  the  terrible  sack  of  1527 
by  the  army  of  the  Constable  Bourbon.  The  war  in  Lom- 
bardy  between  the  French  and  Imperialists  continued  to  rage 
fiercely;  Mantua  still  escaped,  but  her  territories  were  deso- 
lated by  the  passing  armies;  and  to  complete  the  ruin  came 
the  plague  of  1528,  which  practically  depopulated  the  coun- 
try, and  carried  off  nearly  one-half  of  the  people  of  the  city 
(recently  increased  to  40,000).  Isabella  laboured  like  a 
heroine  in  the  midst  of  it,  pledging  all  her  best  jewels  to 
alleviate  the  distress.  Through  everything  Federigo  clung 
to  the  Emperor's  party,  in  spite  of  the  constant  danger  from 
the  French;  and  he  received  his  reward,  on  March  25,  1530, 
when  Charles  V  entered  Mantua  at  the  head  of  a  brilliant 
train,  fresh  from  his  coronation  at  Bologna  the  day  before. 
He  stayed  four  weeks,  enjoying  the  Gonzaga  palaces,  art 
treasures  and  hunting-parties ;  and  on  April  8th,  after  signing 
and  sealing  an  imperial  decree  creating  the  Duchy  of  Man- 
tua, himself  proclaimed  to  the  people,  from  the  steps  of  the 


MANTOVA  LA  GLORIOSA  421 

Duomo,  the  advancement  of  their  lord  Federigo  to  be  the 
first  Duke  of  the  realm. 

Toward  the  end  of  that  same  year  the  Duke  shook  himself 
free  from  the  ten  years'  thraldom  in  which  he  had  been 
held  by  the  imperious  Isabella  Boschetti, —  to  his  mother's 
long  grief, —  and  wedded  the  Princess  Margherita  Paleologa 
of  Monferrato ;  erecting  for  the  bride  still  another  wing  to 
the  vast  Gonzaga  palace, —  the  so-called  Palazzina,  adjacent 
to  the  Castello  Vecchio  on  the  east.  Under  Messer  Giulio's 
directions  the  Palazzo  S.  Sebastiano,  or  southern  wing,  was 
being  made  the  most  magnificent  part  of  the  Reggia.  A 
special  chamber  was  designed  for  Mantegna's  Triumph  of 
Caesar,  another  for  Guilio's  own  famous  Cycle  of  the 
Trojan  War,  another  for  Titian's  great  Series  of  the 
Twelve  Caesars,  and  so  forth;  while  one  splendid  hall  was 
devoted  entirely  to  ancient  marble  sculptures,  and  the  ceilings 
throughout  were  made  grandiose  beyond  anything  thereto- 
fore known.  Later  on  Giulio  constructed,  again  adjacent 
upon  the  south  here,  at  the  lake's  edge,  the  celebrated  Cav- 
allerizza,  or  tourney-yard,  surrounded  by  imposing  galleries 
and  arcades. 

Federigo's  marriage  proved  a  happy  one,  and  his  biide  a 
gentle  girl  who  loved  and  admired  Isabella.  In  1536, 
through  the  failure  of  the  direct  line  of  the  Paleologhi,  and 
thanks  to  his  favour  with  the  Emperor,  who  decided  the 
dispute  in  his  behalf,  Federigo  succeeded  to  the  wide  domains 
and  marquisate  of  Monferrato ;  which  remained  in  his  family 
unto  the  end.  In  1574  it  was  erected  into  a  duchy,  for 
Guglielmo  Gonzaga,  son  of  Federigo;  and  in  1708  it  was 
annexed  to  Piedmont. 

On  Feb.  13,  1539,  the  great  Marchesa  Isabella  passed 
away,  amidst  the  tears  of  the  whole  city;  and  according  to 
her  wish,  was  buried  with  no  pomp,  in  the  church  of  S. 


422  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

Francesco,  beside  her  husband,  amid  the  other  princes  and 
princesses  of  the  long  line.  In  their  sepulchral  chapel  Fed- 
erigo  had  a  splendid  tomb  erected  for  her ;  but  before  it  was 
completed,  he  too  had  died,  on  June  28,  1540,  and  was  laid 
beside  her.  Alas,  that  we  cannot  visit  their  resting-places ! — 
"When,  in  1797,  the  French  took  Mantua  after  a  long 
siege,  the  church,  which  contained  more  than  300  monuments 
of  the  Gonzagas  and  other  noble  families,  was  pillaged  — 
the  tombs  were  broken  in  pieces,  and  the  ashes  which  they 
contained  scattered  to  the  winds.  Today  this  stately  shrine, 
so  rich  in  historic  memories  and  treasures  of  art,  has  been 
converted  into  a  barrack-school."  19 —  Federigo  was  first  suc- 
ceeded by  his  son  Francesco,  a  precocious  youth,  who  is  said 
to  have  known  Latin  at  5  years  of  age, —  and  who  reigned 
but  nine  years;  then  by  his  second  son,  Guglielmo,  who 
lived  to  sway  the  joint  dukedoms  for  forty  years,  with  cele- 
brated magnificence. —  Of  Isabella's  remaining  sons,  one, 
Cardinal  Ercole,  governed  Monferrato  for  the  family  until 
his  death ;  and  the  other,  Ferrante,  founded  the  line  df  Gon- 
zaga  princes  of  Guastalla,  who  reigned  there  as  dukes  until 
they  became  extinct,  in  1746. 

Guglielmo's  long  reign  was  the  period  of  Mantua's  greatest 
prosperity,  splendour  and  renown.  Amid  the  vast  treasures 
of  the  Reggia  and  Palazzo  Te,  and  at  his  numerous  royal 
villas,  he  led  a  life  of  luxury  and  magnificence,  entertaining 
in  kingly  style  the  many  potentates  and  illustrious  men  who 
came  attracted  by  the  fame  of  the  Gonzaga  Golconda.  There 
was  no  warfare  to  disturb  his  ease,  for  Lombardy  lay  pros- 
trate under  the  Spanish  tyranny.  After  Giulio's  death  in 
1546  the  arts  had  begun  their  degeneration ;  but  the  industries 
of  the  people  prospered  as  never  before.  The  excellence  and 
beauties  of  their  cloaks  and  garments  had  long  brought  to 

19  Julia    Cartwright's   "  Isabella   d'Este." 


MANTOVA  LA  GLORIOSA  423 

them  the  trade  of  the  wealthy  classes  throughout  north 
Italy  and  the  neighbouring  kingdoms;  and  prior  to  1547  the 
settlement  in  London  of  a  number  of  these  artisans  had 
spread  through  England  the  celebrity  of  Mantuan  vesture. 
Thence  we  derived  the  name  of  mantua  for  a  court-gown; 
just  as  paduasoy  came  from  Padua's  exquisite  silk  goods,  and 
millinery  from  the  head-dresses  first  made  at  Milan.  Leigh 
Hunt  put  it  wittily: 

"  Mantua  of  every  age  the  long  renown, 
That  now  a  Virgil  giv'st,  and  now  a  gown !  " 

Duke  Vincenzo  I  (1589-1612)  continued  upon  such  a  lav- 
ish scale  the  magnificence  of  his  predecessor  that  the  Gonzaga 
resources  gave  way,  and  were  rapidly  dissipated.  Aside  from 
this  he  is  to  be  remembered  only  for  the  introduction  of 
Rubens  to  his  court,  who,  attracted  by  its  innumerable  art- 
treasures,  lingered  there  from  1600  to  1608,  painting  for  the 
Duke  many  portraits  and  other  canvases  now  long  scattered. 
Vincenzo  left  three  sons,  who  succeeded  each  other  as  rulers, 
and  perished,  within  the  space  of  15  years;  the  grand  old 
stock  was  worn  out  by  ease  and  high-living,  and  the  elder 
line  of  it  died  with  them.  Through  all  four  dukes  the  family 
passion  for  royal  building  had  persisted,  and  a  good  part  of 
their  extravagance  consisted  in  still  more  additions  to  the 
endless  Keggia,  with  renovations  and  elaborations  of  equal 
expense.  "  Francesco  II  reigned  only  a  few  months,  yet 
found  time  to  make  the  great  Mostra  Gallery  over  again." 
Under  Vincenzo  II,  the  last  of  them,  the  drain  had  reached 
such  a  point  that  he  began  the  selling  of  the  masterpieces  of 
art:  he  "lasted  but  a  year,  but  made  terrible  inroads  upon 
the  treasures  of  the  Reggia,  selling  to  Charles  I  of  England 
pictures  by  Titian,  Tintoretto,  Correggio,  and  del  Sarto."  20 

20  Blashfield's  "Italian  Cities." 


424  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

These  were  the  most  valued  pieces  of  the  main  collection, 
including  Titian's  Series  of  the  Twelve  Caesars.  He 
"  at  first  hesitated  to  sell  the  masterpieces  which  had  belonged 
to  Isabella  d'Este,  but  finally  gave  up  the  most  precious  of 
them  to  the  emissaries  of  Cardinal  Richelieu,"  21 —  the  can- 
vases of  Mantegna,  Perugino,  Costa,  etc.,  that  had  so  long 
beautified  her  famous  Grotta.  The  greatest  works  of  all, 
Mantegna's  seven  panels  of  the  Triumph  of  Caesar,  were 
likewise  disposed  of  to  Charles  I,  either  by  Vincenzo  or  his 
successor,  Duke  Carlo  I ;  they  long  adorned  the  walls  of 
Hampton  Court,  and  now  form  one  of  the  chief  treasures  of 
the  National  Gallery. 

All  this  was  very  sad,  but  it  was  fortunate;  for  only  three 
years  later  came  that  terrible  sack  of  Mantua  which  de- 
stroyed such  countless  works  of  irreplaceable  value;  it  was 
therefore  apparently  an  act  of  Providence  that  first  removed 
these  grandest  masterpieces  of  them  all,  for  the  future  en- 
joyment of  untold  generations.  On  the  cessation  of  the 
main  line  of  Gonzaga,  with  Vincenzo's  death  in  1627,  the 
head  of  the  younger,  Guastalla  branch  at  once  set  up  his 
rightful  claim  to  the  joint  dukedoms,  backed  by  Ferdinand 
II  of  Spain  and  the  Duke  of  Savoy;  but  Louis  XIII  of 
France,  inspired  of  course  by  Richelieu,  supported  the  pre- 
tensions of  the  French  collateral  line,  represented  by  Charles 
de  Nevers,22  a  descendant  of  one  of  the  earlier  Gonzaghi ; 
and  marching  with  an  army  rapidly  across  the  Alps  in  the 
depth  of  winter,  he  crushed  the  Duke  of  Savoy  in  one  battle, 
and  set  Duke  Carlo  I  upon  the  twin  thrones  of  Mantua 
and  Monferrato.     Ferdinand  II  did  not  rest  under  this,  and 

21  Charles  Yriarte   (supra). 

22  Lodovico,  one  of  the  younger  sons  of  the  Gonzaga  line,  had 
married  Henriette  de  Cleves,  the  heiress  of  the  dukedom  of  Nevers, 
and  assumed  the  title;  Carlo  I  was  their  descendant. 


MANTOVA  LA  GLORIOSA  425 

in  the  third  year  of  Carlo's  reign  sent  a  ferocious  army  of 
Spaniards  and  Lansquenets,  which  besieged  the  city,  bom- 
barded it,  and  took  it  by  assault  on  July  18,  1630. 

The  ever  memorable  and  horrible  sack  of  that  peerless 
capital  which  then  took  place,  was  like  a  smaller  edition  of 
the  Gothic  sack  of  Rome.  For  three  whole  days  the  brutish 
soldiery  ravaged  the  Reggia,  destroying  far  more  than  they 
carried  away  of  those  inestimable  treasures  of  painting,  sculp- 
ture, and  manuscript.  Nothing  better  shows  the  palace- 
city's  incredible  extent,  than  the  fact  that  despite  those  three 
days'  incessant  hunting  for  wealth,  they  never  discovered 
the  Paradiso  of  Isabella.  Its  contents  were  dispersed  later 
on.  The  city  at  large  was  so  grievously  stripped  and  injured, 
that  it  never  recovered.  As  for  Carlo,  however,  he  kept 
his  throne  after  all;  for  Ferdinand,  threatened  by  Louis 
and  other  enemies,  relinquished  his  purpose  after  this  use- 
less destruction,  and  recognised  the  line  of  Nevers.  This 
continued  to  rule  until  1708;  when  the  turmoil  of  the 
War  of  the  Spanish  Succession  frightened  Carlo  IV  into 
running  away,  and  ended  in  the  annexation  of  Mantua,  with 
the  rest  of  Lombardy,  to  the  Austrian  crown.  Before  this 
last  Duke  had  departed,  he  "  divided  among  the  Mantuan 
churches,  corporations,  and  his  private  friends,  more  than 
900  pictures,  besides  marbles  and  smaller  objects,  lest  they 
should  fall  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies;"  another  proof, 
after  all  the  stripping  that  had  preceded,  of  the  countless 
art-treasures  of  the  family. 

During  this  1 8th  century,  of  Austrian  rule,  under  Maria 
Theresa  and  her  son  Joseph  II  care  was  really  taken  of  the 
Reggia  and  Palazzo  Te,  and  much  redecoration  and  refur- 
nishing done;  which  was  continued,  in  the  Empire  mode 
during  the  succeeding  Napoleonic  era;  so  that  a  large 
number  of  the  halls  and  chambers  —  including  those  occupied 


426  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

or  used  by  the  Viceroy,  Prince  Eugene  Beauharnais,  and  his 
consort  —  now  exhibit  the  style  of  their  period  in  the  walls 
and  floors,  capped  by  the  original  cinquecento  ceilings;  a 
combination,  as  Mr.  Blashfield  truly  remarks,  which  is  really 
not  at  all  inharmonious.  This  epoch  was  ushered  in  by 
Napoleon's  famous  siege  of  Mantua  in  1796, —  a  frightful, 
long-drawn-out  catastrophe,  in  which  60,000  Austrians  under 
Wurmser  resisted  the  victorious  French  for  9  months,  en- 
during an  incessant  cannonade  which  nearly  reduced  the  city 
to  ashes,  and  surrendering  at  last  only  from  starvation.  It 
was  upon  this  surrender  that  the  French  destroyed  S.  Fran- 
cesco and  its  monuments,  together  with  fifty  other  churches; 
which  has  left  the  city  comparatively  so  bare  today  of  eccle- 
siastical structures. 

The  impregnability  of  Mantua  was  thus  demonstrated,  to 
everything  but  hunger;  although  it  was  easily  blockaded  by 
posting  bodies  of  troops  at  the  ends  of  the  five  bridges  leading 
from  the  city, —  the  Ponte  Molino,  the  Ponte  S.  Giorgio,  and 
the  three  crossing  the  southern  moat  and  marshes.  Yet 
when  Bonaparte  had  gone  to  Egypt,  and  the  Austrians  ad- 
vanced in  1799  to  besiege  Mantua  in  their  turn,  it  was 
surrendered  to  them  by  the  French  Commandant,  Latour- 
Forssac,  after  three  months  only ;  an  event  which  ever  after- 
wards "  roused  his  [Napoleon's]  indignation  to  so  high  a 
pitch,  that  whenever  the  subject  was  mentioned  he  could 
find  no  words  to  express  his  rage."  23  After  Marengo  the 
city  was  restored  to  the  French  without  a  blow;  and  some- 
time after  the  formation  of  the  Kingdom  of  Italy  by  Na- 
poleon, his  viceroy  Eugene  came  to  live  in  Mantua  for 
awhile,  bringing  with  him  his  charming  young  Princess, 
Amalia  of  Bavaria;  so  that  the  Reggia  for  a  last  time  opened 
its  superb  halls  to  a  regal  court.     Here  they  returned  in  the 

23  Bourrienne's  "  Memoirs  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte," 


MANTOVA  LA  GLORIOSA  427 

troublous  days  of  18 14,  after  Napoleon's  abdication,  while 
Eugene's  throne  hung  in  the  balance;  and  in  the  suite  of 
L'lmperatrice,  the  Princess  gave  birth  to  a  son.  Eugene, 
after  defeating  the  Austrians  near-by  on  the  Mincio,  had 
signed  an  armistice,  hoping  to  keep  Lombardy  for  his  own. 
But  upon  the  murder  of  his  Minister  of  Finance,  in  the 
uprising  of  Milan  on  April  20,  18 14,  in  a  foolish  fit  of 
anger  he  handed  over  the  city  to  the  Austrians,  and  fled  with 
his  wife  to  her  father's  court  in  Bavaria.  In  these  final,  sad 
scenes  of  the  Napoleonic  Epic,  Eugene,  as  Lord  Broughton 
remarked,  "  was  guilty  of  something  worse  than  precipitancy 
—  when  he  seized  the  crown  from  selfishness,  and  surrendered 
it  from  spite. —  Botta  handed  him  over  to  the  perpetual  scorn 
of  posterity  for  his  surrender  of  Mantua."  2i 

The  second  occupany  of  the  Austrians,  from  1814  to  1866, 
was  the  devilish  one:  they  quartered  their  brutal  troops  in 
the  wonderful  halls  of  the  Palazzina,  the  Troia,  the  Mostra, 
the  Cavallerizza,  etc.,  where  the  savages  even  broke  down 
the  pendants  of  the  ceilings  to  use  for  fuel ;  they  turned  the 
Castello  Vecchio  into  a  prison,  for  Italian  patriots ;  they  leased 
to  the  lowest  class  of  people  the  Grotta,  the  Paradiso,  and  nu- 
merous other  cherished  apartments,  which  were  then  driven 
full  of  nails,  defouled,  and  demolished  in  every  brutish  way; 
in  a  word,  they  appeared  to  expend  upon  the  brick  and  plaster 
the  venom  which  they  felt  for  Italians.  It  was  by  the 
fortress  of  Mantua,  and  the  rest  of  the  Quadrilateral,  that 
the  Austrians  stopped  and  turned  back  Charles  Albert  in 
1849.  So  thick  and  constantly  discovered  were  the  plots  for 
Lombard  uprisings  in  the  following  years,  that  the  Castello 
was  kept  full  of  prisoner-patriots,  and  moist  with  their  blood. 

In   1852  a  great  conspiracy  involving  hundreds  of  prom- 

24  Lord  Broughton's  "Remarks  Made  in  Several  Visits  to  Italy; 
(1816-1854). 


428  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

inent  Lombards  was  unearthed,  through  the  confession  of  a 
poor  suspect  who  was  tortured  for  three  days;  150  of  them 
were  immediately  arrested,  and  9  leaders  of  the  plot  were 
hung,  on  the  field  of  "  Belfiore  "  outside  the  city-walls,  in 
the  month  of  December.  They  included  Tito  Speri,  the  hero 
of  Brescia,  Pietro  Frattini,  the  hero  of  the  defence  of  Rome, 
Dr.  Carlo  Poma,  a  famous  physician,  and  two  venerated 
priests;  and  they  have  been  known  ever  since  as  "  the  Martyrs 
of  Belfiore."  Countless  were  the  patriots  maltreated  and 
done  to  death  in  that  chief  stronghold  of  the  tyrants  in  Italy ; 
and  justly  is  it  now  considered  the  most  sacred  of  national 
shrines.  The  long  agony  was  continued  in  Mantua's  case 
after  the  war  of  1859,  because  the  Treaty  of  Zurich  then 
adjudged  the  fortress  still  to  Austria,  with  the  rest  of  the 
Quadrilateral  and  Venetia;  but  1866  brought  the  end  of 
the  people's  sufferings,  and  their  long-awaited  freedom. 

Mantua's  history  during  the  Renaissance  era  was  so  inex- 
tricably bound  up  with  her  art  that  they  have  been  summed 
up  together;  and  there  remains  only  to  say  a  few  words  of 
the  methods  and  the  scholars  of  that  master  with  whom 
the  city  is  so  strongly  identified.  "  Julio  Romano,"  wrote 
Broughton  — "  more  than  divides  Mantua  with  her  native 
Virgil."  Perkins,  on  the  other  hand,  expressed  the  reaction 
of  the  later  19th  century  when  he  said:  "  As  Mantegna  had 
elevated  the  standard  of  art  in  all  its  branches,  so  did  Guilio 
Romano  degrade  it;  while  the  one  Christianised  paganism, 
the  other  paganised  Christianity."  25  There  is  much  sense 
in  the  latter  remark;  but  it  remains  for  us  to  seek  the  mean 
of  truth, —  to  recognise  Giulio's  great  qualities  of  genius, 
while  admitting  his  real  defects.  As  a  decorator  he  stands 
pre-eminent;  the  fertility  of  his  fancy  was  inexhaustible,  and 
always  original.     His  power  of  imagination  has  been  rarely 

25  Perkins'  "  Italian  Sculptors." 


MANTOVA  LA  GLORIOSA  429 

equalled ;  who  else  could  have  conceived  the  "  Battle  of  the 
Giants," — except  Michelangelo  himself?  To  the  latter 
Lanzi  compared  him,  when  he  said:  "Giulio  Pippi,  the 
most  distinguished  of  Raphael's  scholars,  resembled  his  master 
more  in  energy  than  in  delicacy  of  style. —  In  grandeur  of 
design  he  almost  rivals  Michelangiolo,  completely  mastering 
the  whole  mechanism  of  the  human  frame,  which  he  bends 
and  accommodates  to  his  purposes  with  unerring  skill;  save 
that  now  and  then,  from  over-anxiety  to  make  his  meaning 
plain,  he  is  guilty  of  too  much  violence  in  his  attitudes."  2G 

We  must  recognise  his  underlying  genius  when  we  remem- 
ber that  he  drew  all  the  cartoons,  and  in  large  part  executed, 
the  Loggie  of  Raphael  in  the  Vatican.  It  was  this  sort  of 
decoration  which  he  carried  to  Mantua;  and  there,  entirely 
unrestrained  amidst  the  vast  mass  of  works  committed  to 
his  charge,  he  became  lost  in  a  lifelong  orgy  of  neo-classicism 
and  mythology, —  in  which,  haste  and  the  striving  for  grand 
effects  gradually  coarsened  and  impaired  his  manner.  One 
might  say  that  Giulio  was  practically  entrusted  with  the 
rebuilding  and  readornment  of  the  Gonzaga  capital,  on  a 
grandiose  scale  commensurate  with  the  family's  glory,  and 
to  which  they  continually  urged  him  on.  Duke  Federigo 
"  in  a  transport  of  gratitude,  was  heard  to  exclaim,  that 
Giulio  was  in  truth  more  the  master  of  the  city  than  he 
himself. — A  solitary  instance,  perhaps,  in  history,  of  one  who, 
having  erected  the  most  noble  and  beautiful  palaces,  villas, 
and  temples,  painted  and  ornamented  a  considerable  portion 
of  them  with  his  own  hands;  while  at  the  same  time  a 
regular  school  of  his  pupils  and  assistants  was  formed  in 
Mantua,  which  continued  for  a  length  of  years. —  So  many 
chambers  with  gilded  entablatures ;  such  a  variety  of  beautiful 
stucco-work ;  so  many  stories  and  capricci,  finely  conceived  and 

26  Lanzi's  "  History  of  Painting,"  Vol.  I. 


430  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

connected  with  one  another;  besides  such  a  diversity  of  la- 
bours, adapted  to  different  places  and  subjects; — altogether 
form  a  collection  of  wonders,  the  honour  of  which  Giulio 
divided  with  no  other  artist.  For  he  himself  conceived, 
composed,  and  completed  these  vast  undertakings."  He 
painted  almost  entirely  in  fresco,  upon  a  daring  scale;  and 
what  one  must  be  careful  to  bear  in  mind  in  observing  these 
works  today  (which  so  many  critics  have  not  done)  is  that 
they  were  all  extensively  retouched  during  the  French  and 
Austrian  periods,  sufficiently  to  destroy  Giulio's  faces,  col- 
ours, and  expression,  and  leave  in  fact  only  his  composition 
and  figures. 

He  was  also  especially  noted,  as  Vasari  truly  remarked,  for 
his  production  of  first-class  artists.  Foremost  among  his  pu- 
pils was  Primaticcio,  who  rose  to  a  solitary,  supreme  height 
in  his  world  of  stucco-fancies;  he,  with  his  talented  fellow- 
pupil  Niccolo  dell'Abbate,  afterwards  repaired  to  the  court 
of  Francis  I,  to  join  Cellini  in  educating  France  in  the  Re- 
naissance. Rinaldo  Mantovano  was  Giulio's  chief  local  dis- 
ciple and  painter,  aiding  the  master  greatly  in  his  palatial 
frescoes.  Benedetto  Pagni,  Fermo  Guisoni,  and  Giov.  Bat- 
tista  Bertani  were  also  important  followers;  the  last-named 
being  the  one  who  continued  the  school  after  Giulio's  death, 
also  the  decorations  of  the  Reggla  and  many  other  buildings, 
becoming  "  almost  as  another  Giulio  "  to  Duke  Vincenzo 
I, —  though  a  far  inferior  one.  He  was  perhaps  a  better 
teacher  than  a  painter:  under  him  studied  such  brilliant 
artists  as  Giulio  Campi,  Brusasorci  and  Paolo  Farinato  of 
Verona,  Giov.  Batt.  del  Moro,  and  Paolo  Veronese;  which 
shows  clearly  to  what  a  height  of  reputation  the  Mantuan 
school  had  attained.  With  the  death  of  Bertani,  however,  it 
passed  away;  and  from  the  school  of  the  Campi,  in  turn, 
came  Ant.  Viani,  "  II  Vianino,"  to  decorate  the  Reggia  for 


MANTOVA  LA  GLORIOSA  431 

the  remaining  years  of  Duke  Vincenzo  and  his  three  sons. 

Between  the  Augustan  age  of  Virgil  and  the  Renaissance 
period  of  Castiglione  and  Vittorino  da  Feltre,  Mantua  pro- 
duced one  bright  star  of  literature  who  cannot  be  overlooked 
in  any  summary  of  her  past:  this  was  Sordello,  the  poet  of 
the  early  duecento  who  wrote  his  gay  songs  in  Provenqal, — 
in  consequence  of  having  been  obliged  to  seek  refuge  in  that 
region  from  the  punishment  of  his  licentious  sins.  In  fact 
he  has  been  well  described  as  a  kind  of  Italian  Faust.  Born 
at  Goito  near  Mantua  about  1200,  he  led  a  wild  youthful 
life  which  terminated  in  a  dangerous  intrigue  with  Cunizza 
da  Romano,  Ezzelino's  sister  and  the  wife  of  Count  Ric- 
cardo  di  S.  Bonifazio;  on  whose  discovery  he  had  to  flee 
for  his  life,  not  returning  to  "Italy  until  35  years  later;  when 
he  reappeared  in  the  train  of  Charles  of  Anjou,  and  was 
by  that  sovereign  given  lands  in  the  Kingdom  of  Naples. 
There  he  died  as  he  had  lived,  by  violence,  in  1269.  But 
his  fame  was  wide  as  a  ballad-maker,  and  increased  with  the 
years, —  Dante  mentioning  him  as  "  he  who  was  so  distin- 
guished by  his  eloquence,  not  only  in  poetry,  but  in  every 
other  kind  of  speech."  In  1840  Robert  Browning  immor- 
talised him  by  his  grand  poem,  "  Sordello,"  which  sets  forth 
with  wonderful  genius  the  strange,  brilliant,  contradictory 
traits  of  the  mediaeval  Italian  character.  Mantua  has  hap- 
pily remembered  her  great  singer  in  the  name  of  her  main 
piazza. 

Another  important  Mantuan  writer  was  Capilupo,  of  Cas- 
tiglione's  time;  also  Spagnuoli,  the  Carmelite  poet;  and  at 
that  epoch  the  city  shone  richly  with  a  borrowed  lustre  for 
which  her  Marchesa  Isabella  was  responsible, —  in  the  com- 
positions poured  forth  to  her,  and  about  her,  by  the  circle 
of  poets  she  had  gathered.  A  little  later  came  Bernardo 
Tasso,   to  her  son  Guglielmo,  by  whom  he  was  appointed 


432  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

chief  secretary  in  1563,  and  Governor  of  Ostiglia  shortly 
after.  In  the  latter  position  he  died,  in  1569,  leaving  his 
unfinished  poem  upon  Floridante  to  be  completed  by  Tor- 
quato,  and  dedicated  to  Duke  Guglielmo;  who  in  his  turn 
erected  a  monument,  now  destroyed,  over  the  poet's  grave 
in  the  church  of  S.  Egidio  in  Mantua. — 

To  understand  the  topography  of  this  city  the  shape  of 
the  peninsula  must  be  borne  in  mind:  the  neck,  crossed  by 
the  later  fortifications  of  Brunelleschi  and  Giulio  in  a  semi- 
circular, outward  curve,  is  the  broadest  portion;  the  eastern 
side  runs  directly  north,  the  western  side  generally  northeast, 
and  the  upper  side,  northwest,  from  Ponte  S.  Giorgio  to 
Ponte  Molino.  In  the  middle  of  the  southern  wall  opens  the 
main  gate,  Porta  Pusterla,  immediately  without  which  lies 
the  Palazzo  del  Te  with  its  gardens,  and  from  which 
the  important  Via  Principe  Amadeo  runs  northeastward  till 
it  joins  with  the  other  main  thoroughfare,  Corso  Vitt. 
Emanuele  (formerly  Via  Sogliari),  coming  eastward  from 
the  Porta  Pradella,  at  the  fortifications'  western  end.  From 
the  point  of  junction  four  piazzas  stretch  successively  north- 
eastward,—  the  small  ones  of  S.  Andrea,  delle  Erbe,  and 
Broletto,  and  the  final  great  one  of  Sordello ;  between  which 
and  the  eastern  lake  lies  the  vast  enclosure  of  the  Reggia. 
The  latter,  therefore,  is  generally  triangular  in  shape,  with 
the  old  Castello  forming  its  northern  point;  past  which,  on 
its  outer  side,  a  narrow  way  leads  eastward  from  Piazza 
Sordello's  extremity  to  the  Ponte  S.  Giorgio.  The  railroad 
lines  from  the  west,  east  and  south  unite  shortly  without  the 
Porta  Pradella,  and  enter  the  city  beside  it,  along  the  western 
lake-shore;  there  the  station  is  located,  closely  within  the 
gate ;  and  the  line  to  the  north  advances  along  the  same  shore, 
till  it  crosses  the  northern  water  on  a  bridge  beside  the  Ponte 
Molino. 


MANTOVA  LA  GLORIOSA  433 

The  journey  from  Cremona  was  a  monotonous  ride  of 
several  hours,  always  directly  east  across  the  luxuriant  plain, 
with  its  countless  streams  flowing  southward  to  the  Po.  At 
Piadena  a  branch-line  from  Brescia  crossed,  heading  also 
southward,  to  Casalmaggiore  on  the  Po, —  a  small  town  not 
worth  a  visit  today,  but  of  some  historic  interest  as  having 
been  for  centuries  the  most  formidable  stronghold  of  the 
Gonzaghi,  equipped  with  a  giant  fortress  that  was  considered 
impregnable  before  the  days  of  cannon.  By  it  they  kept 
their  hands  upon  the  great  river,  and  controlled  more  or  less 
its  shipping.  Lassels,  who  visited  the  place  while  the  Gon- 
zaghi were  still  in  power,  spoke  of  it  as  the  Duke's  "  strong 
tower  of  Casal,  one  of  the  strongest  places  I  saw  in  all 
Italy:  having  an  excellent  Cittadel  at  one  end  of  it;  a  strong 
castle  at  the  other,  and  strong  ditches,  walls,  and  ramparts 
everywhere." 27  But  all  these,  like  their  ducal  sovereigns, 
have  gone  the  way  of  the  past. 

We  crossed  the  wide,  impetuous  Oglio,  approaching  Man- 
tua through  the  ever-laughing  garden  of  wheat  and  mulberry, 
corn  and  vine;  so  that  I  thought  of  Dickens'  words:  "  Was 
the  way  to  Mantua  as  beautiful  when  Romeo  was  banished 
thither,  I  wonder?  Did  it  wind  through  pasture-lands  as 
green,  bright  with  the  same  glancing  streams,  and  dotted  with 
fresh  clumps  of  graceful  trees?  "  2S  There  was  no  sign  here, 
not  even  as  we  came  very  near,  of  that  marsh-land  which  — 

"  In  Mantuan  territory  is  slough, 
Half  pine-tree  forest;   maples,  scarlet  oaks 
Breed  o'er  the  river  beds ;  even  Mincio  chokes 
With  sand  the  summer  through,  but  'tis  morass 
In  winter  up  to  Mantua's  walls."  29 

27  Richard   Lassels'  Travels    (1630-40). 

28  Dickens'   "  Pictures   in   Italy." 

29  Browning's    "  Sordello." 


434  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

Yet  as  we  approached  those  walls,  there  it  lay  to  the  north, 
—  water,  swamp  and  rushes:  the  far-spreading,  green-blue 
Lago  Superiore,  bounded  by  sedge  so  thick  and  banks  so  level 
and  devoid  of  buildings,  that  it  was  difficult  to  see  where  the 
water  ended  and  the  land  began.  But  already  we  were  in 
the  station;  and  descending  to  a  hotel  'bus,  I  was  rattled 
down  the  broad,  ancient  Via  Sogliari,  which  in  donning  its 
new  dignity  of  "  Corso  Vitt.  Emanuele,"  appeared  to  have 
been  making  efforts  to  be  clothed  in  modern  architecture. 
For  the  stagnant  old  city  has  been  moving  in  recent  years, 
and  has  now  once  more  a  population  of  30,000.  I  shall  not 
give  the  name  of  the  hotel  to  which  I  was  taken ;  for  though 
of  good  reputation,  fair  rooms  and  excellent  cooking,  its 
service  was  so  unsatisfactory  that  at  last,  one  morning  after 
waiting  long  in  vain  for  a  bit  of  breakfast,  in  despair  I 
quitted  the  house  for  another.30  Wretched  service  is  a  vile 
destroyer  of  peace  of  mind.  This  second  inn,  Albergo  Sen- 
noner,  proved  itself  a  large,  clean,  Italian  hostelry  of  the 
Lombard  type,  simple  but  well  served,  and  of  comfortable 
rooms.  It  was  centrally  located,  on  Via  Principe  Amadeo 
(here  called  Via  Magistrato)  just  a  block  south  of  the 
Piazza  of  S.  Andrea;  which  also  has  been  rechristened,  after 
Andrea  Mantegna. 

Thither  I  proceeded,  in  the  cool  of  the  afternoon,  by  way 
of  the  picturesque  old  Via  Sogliari,  curving  between  its  ir- 
regular arcades  upon  heavy,  time-worn  columns,  that  ran 
sometimes  on  one  side  only,  again  on  both ;  their  capitals  now 
showing  erection  in  the  gothic  era,  now  in  the  romanesque, 
while  the  connecting  arches  were  often  entirely  lacking. 
The  three-storied  stucco  facades  above  were  likewise  varie- 
gated, in  contrasting  hues  of  green  and  blue  and  different 

30  I  have  recently  been  informed  by  travellers  that  the  manage- 
ment has  changed,  and  the  service  become  first  class. 


MANTOVA  LA  GLORIOSA  435 

shades  of  brown.  Flanking  the  narrow,  low,  dark  side- 
passages  were  tiny  shops  of  every  nature,  including  the  in- 
evitable, numerous  cafes,  with  their  chairs  and  tables  sprawl- 
ing between  the  columns;  where  these  were  not,  stalls  often 
stood,  vending  articles  of  the  cheaper  grades,  and  aiding 
further  to  shut  out  the  light.  Very  little  had  changed  here 
since  the  Gonzaga  days,  except  the  "  American  bars  "  and  the 
frequent  cinematograph-places.  The  crowd  was  intense, 
standing  about  conversing  in  dense  throngs;  and  I  always 
found  it  so  here, —  especially  upon  market-days,  when  one 
could  hardly  move  for  the  multitude. 

The  piazza  itself  was  long  and  but  slightly  broader  than 
the  street,  not  distinguished  except  by  the  imposing  church 
of  S.  Andrea  at  its  northern  end,  gleaming  amidst  the  other 
buildings  with  its  classic  marble  fagade.  This  was  designed 
by  Alberti,  about  1472,  in  the  form  of  a  mighty  triumphal 
arch,  flanked  on  each  side  by  three  windows,  in  a  vertical 
row,  and  two  huge  corinthian  pilasters, —  a  curious  pre- 
cursor of  Palladio's  style;  over  the  flat  pediment  rose  an  odd 
secondary  archway,  behind  which  soared  invisible  the  lofty 
dome;  and  at  the  left  towered  its  earlier  brick  campanile,  of 
141 4,  pierced  by  three  tiers  of  elegant  gothic  windows  in 
terracotta  frames  —  the  topmost  triple-arched,  with  red 
marble  shafts  and  very  beautiful  decoration, —  and  capped 
by  an  octagonal  open  belfry  with  a  slender  conical  spire. 
The  square-headed  marble  frame  of  the  main  portal,  beneath 
the  great  arch,  was  handsomely  adorned  with  arabesque  re- 
liefs. 

Entering,  I  beheld  an  interior  of  such  majestic  dimensions 
and  impressive  vaulting,  ennobled  by  such  a  superb  dome 
and  pure  classic  lines,  that  I  paused  in  genuine  amazement. 
There  were  no  columns  nor  piers  to  obstruct  the  view;  the 
extremely  broad  nave,  beneath  its  lofty,  rounded  roof  painted 


436  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

in  simulation  of  coffering,  was  flanked  on  each  side  by  three 
deep,  arched  chapels,  also  lofty,  crowned  by  vaulting  of  real 
coffer-work,  in  gold  on  white,  and  fenced  off  by  handsome 
balustrades  of  Siena  marble;  while  the  wall-spaces  between 
them  were  adorned  each  with  a  massive  corniced  doorway,  a 
large  fresco,  and  a  circular  window,  enclosed  between  tall 
corinthian  pilasters  at  the  angles, —  whose  gilded  caps  sup- 
ported the  general  frieze,  of  carved,  winged  putti-heads 
interspersed  with  patterns  of  grisaille.  From  the  imposing 
dome,  soaring  above  the  intersection  of  the  spacious  transept, 
descended  a  well  of  soft  white  light.  Around  the  deep, 
apsidal  choir  extended  the  same  architectural  scheme  of  pilas- 
ters, side-arches  and  frieze,  illumined  by  the  great  fresco 
glowing  from  its  half-dome, —  so  far  away,  that  the  verger 
upon  the  high-altar,  arranging  the  candles,  seemed  the  size 
of  a  small  boy,  and  barely  discernible  behind  him  was  the 
dark  semicircle  of  sculptured  stalls. 

Six  more  large  frescoes  decorated  the  entrance-wall, — two 
above  each  doorway;  all  of  those  in  sight  were  of  unusually 
light  tone  and  colouring,  so  that,  in  spite  of  the  huge  figures, 
in  their  tableaux  from  the  New  Testament,  they  did  not  dis- 
tract the  attention  from  the  whole  grand  architectural  effect. 
This,  according  to  Symonds,  was  derived  by  Alberti  from  the 
enormous  vaulted  baths  of  the  ancients  at  Rome, —  those 
coffered  halls  of  Diocletian  and  Caracalla  which  still  stand. 
"  The  combination  of  these  antique  details  in  an  imposing 
structure  implied  a  high  imaginative  faculty  at  a  moment 
when  the  rules  of  classic  architecture  had  not  been  as  yet  re- 
duced to  a  method."  31  This  was  one  of  the  first  churches  of 
the  Renaissance,  as  well  as  one  of  the  grandest,  for  whose 
forms  they  went  back  to  the  purely  classical:  "  the  type  " — 
wrote  Ferguson  — "  of  all  those  churches  which,   from  St. 

31  J.  A.  Symonds'  "  Fine  Arts." 


MANTOVA  LA  GLORIOSA  437 

Peter's  downwards,  have  been  erected  —  in  the  past  3  cen- 
turies." The  nave  was  finished  in  1494;  but  Alberti's  de- 
signs for  the  transept  and  choir  were  not  fulfilled  until  about 
1600,  when  Ant.  Viani  carried  them  out; — for  which  he 
deserves  much  credit,  in  that  decadent  age,  seeing  that  he  did 
not  alter  them  in  any  way.  The  dome  was  not  added  until 
the  1 8th  century.  The  only  feature  I  did  not  like  was  the 
huge,  disproportionate  archway  of  the  facade,  which,  as  Sy- 
monds  remarked,  "  serves  only  for  a  decoration.  Too  high 
and  spacious  even  for  the  chariots  of  a  Roman  triumph,  it 
forms  an  unappropriate  entrance  to  the  modest  vestibule  of  a 
Christian  church." 

The  frescoes  of  the  nave  were  also  later  works,  of 
the  Decadence.  The  doors  in  the  intermediate  wall-spaces 
proved  to  open  into  smaller,  cubical  side  chapels,  four  on  each 
hand;  and  the  first  of  them  to  left  was  that  dedicated  to  S. 
Giovanni,  which  Andrea  Mantegna  himself  built  and 
adorned,  and  in  which  he  lies  buried.  Through  a  locked 
iron  grating  I  saw,  by  the  dim  light  of  one  small  window,  a 
cell-like  chamber  with  a  flat  cupola,  which  was  painted  in  the 
centre  with  that  Gonzaga  device  of  a  red  sun  and  a  golden 
crown,  whose  use  was  granted  to  the  artist  in  1469  by  Lodo- 
vico  III.  In  the  floor  lay  a  slab  of  red  marble,  covering  the 
grave,  bearing  the  inscription:  "  Ossa  Andreae  Mantinii 
Famosissimi,"  etc.,  with  the  date,  1506.  On  the  left  wall 
was  a  round  plaque  bearing  a  bronze  bust  of  the  master, 
wonderful  in  its  lifelikeness  and  force  of  expression.  "  The 
expression  of  the  face  is  grave,  earnest  and  searching,  the 
modelling  bold,  vigorous  and  true  to  nature,  and  the  treat- 
ment of  the  hair,  which  falls  in  long  curling  locks  on  either 
side  of  the  laurel-wreathed  head,  is  most  masterly.  This 
consummate  work  of  art,  which  is  perhaps  the  finest  of 
modern  bronze  busts,  has  been  attributed   to  Mantegna, — 


438  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

but  it  is  more  than  probable  that  it  was  cast  after  his  death  — 
and  that  the  tradition  is  correct  which  assigns  it  to  the 
famous  medallist,  Sperandio  Maglioli."  32  There  was  further 
adornment  upon  the  walls,  in  the  form  of  some  faded  fres- 
coes by  the  artist's  son  Francesco,  and  three  large  canvases 
by  his  school;  of  these  two  were  poor  works,  and  the  third 
an  unusually  fine  Baptism  of  Christ,  of  noble  figures  and 
deep  feeling,  in  a  splendid  tone  and  atmosphere. 

Over  the  second  altar  to  left  I  admired  an  exceedingly 
beautiful  though  damaged  specimen  of  Lorenzo  Costa's 
work, —  a  large,  richly  toned  canvas  of  Madonna  and  saints, 
graceful  in  figures  and  composition,  and  of  languorous,  bliss- 
ful atmosphere.  The  sixth  chapel  to  right  held  the  alleged 
sepulchre  of  St.  Longinus,  consisting  of  a  simple  stucco  sar- 
cophagus in  classic  lines,  affixed  to  the  rear  wall,  painted 
dark  brown  with  gilt  trimmings;  while  roundabout  were 
some  large  frescoes  said  to  have  been  designed  by  Giulio 
Romano,  representing  the  Crucifixion  and  the  discovery  of 
the  vessel  containing  Christ's  blood ;  these,  however,  were 
over-crowded  and  over-strenuous,  besides  being  damaged  by 
repairing.  Upon  the  altar  stood  a  pleasing  cinquecento  can- 
vas, an  Adoration  of  the  Child  by  the  Maries  and  Longinus, 
possessing  fine  qualities  of  tone  and  drawing.  The  tomb  of 
Bishop  Andreasi  in  the  right  transept  was  interesting:  a 
black  marble  sarcophagus,  supported  on  a  huge  black  swan 
between  two  smaller  white  sphinxes,  with  two  graceful  fe- 
male Virtues  of  white  marble,  leaning  upon  the  base  and 
weeping;  it  was  carved  by  Prospero  Clementi  about  1550. 

In  the  dome  I  observed  an  enormous  Empyrean  with  count- 
less figures,  said  to  have  been  done  by  the  Campi,  but  so  high 
that  the  details  were  lost;  directly  beneath  it  on  the  pave- 
ment was  an  octagonal  space  railed  in  by  a  Siena-marble 

32  Perkins'   "  Italian  Sculptors." 


MANTOVA  LA  GLORIOSA  439 

balustrade,  covering  the  spot  where  the  vessel  of  St.  Longinus 
is  supposed  to  be  buried;  and  round  it  the  people  knelt  rev- 
erently in  worship  of  those  imaginary  drops  of  blood.  The 
large  fresco  in  the  apse  proved  to  be  a  Crucifixion  of  St. 
Andrew,  containing  an  extraordinary  number  of  heroic 
figures,  and  so  lifelike  as  to  be  fairly  harrowing;  its  author 
was  Fermo  Guisoni,  according  to  Layard  and  Lanzi, —  the 
latter  saying  that  the  picture  "  both  in  point  of  design  and 
force  of  colouring  is  indeed  admirable."  Near-by  was  a 
curious  kneeling  figure  in  marble,  of  the  church's  founder, 
Lodovico  Gonzaga,  portraying  faithfully  his  rounded  shoul- 
ders and  long  beard,  with  a  quaint  expression  on  the  face. 
There  was  one  other  interesting  piece  of  sculpture,  the  monu- 
ment of  Pietro  Strozzi  designed  by  Giulio  (about  1530), 
placed  in  the  southern  chapel  of  the  left  transept:  four  stal- 
wart caryatides,  facing  to  front  and  rear,  upheld  a  white 
base  and  a  black  sarcophagus,  on  whose  top  reposed  the  de- 
cedent's figure,  on  its  side, —  a  rather  unusual  and  striking 
design.  Roundabout  it  lay  many  other  tombs,  and  fragments 
of  still  others,  brought  hither,  like  Strozzi's,  from  demolished 
churches. — ■  Mr.  Berenson  places  a  work  of  Fran.  Torbido 
here  also,  representing  God  the  Father  with  the  two  Sts.. 
John, —  over  the  second  altar  to  right. 

At  the  northeastern  corner  of  this  Piazza  Mantegna  a 
narrow  opening  connects  it  directly  with  the  ancient  Piazza 
delle  Erbe,  dominated  by  its  picturesque  old  city  clock-tower, 
or  Torre  dell'  Orologio.  The  latter's  square,  ponderous 
form,  of  begrimed  and  crumbling  stucco,  rises  on  the  eastern 
side  of  the  parallelogram,  at  the  southern  end  of  the  arcaded 
Palazzo  della  Ragione,  or  town-hall;  its  huge  clock-face  at 
mid-height,  shaded  by  a  curving  cornice  like  an  eyebrow, 
gazes  with  its  cyclopean  eye  over  the  village  of  umbrella- 
stands  and  canvas-roofed  stalls  hiding  the  pavement  below, 


44Q  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

and  through  the  connecting  passage,  across  the  neighbouring 
Piazza  of  S.  Andrea.  Just  beneath  it  stands  an  image  of 
the  Virgin,  upon  a  crescent  moon  within  an  oval  niche, 
underset  by  a  heavy,  baroque,  marble  balcony;  and  upon  the 
tower's  peaked  summit  swings  the  town-bell  in  the  open,  sur- 
rounded by  dwarf-obelisks  at  the  corners.  The  old  stuccoed 
palazzo  likewise  looks  as  if  it  had  always  needed  painting  or 
cleaning,  and  never  received  it;  before  it  stretches  the  long, 
projecting  arcade,  of  stucco  arches  on  slender  marble  col- 
umns, which  bulge  with  stands  of  vegetables,  grain  and  fruits ; 
and  above,  rises  a  single  upper  storey  with  oblong  baroque 
windows.  At  the  north  the  piazza  is  closed  by  a  protruding 
three-storied  wing,  of  similar  stained  stucco,  which  ends  in  a 
square  brick  tower,  lofty  and  bare  of  windows,  capped  by  an 
open  belfry.  Thus  has  the  original  palace  of  the  13th  cen- 
tury been  mutilated  by  the  ages. 

The  western  side  of  the  piazza  consists  of  a  number  of 
mediaeval  houses,  rising  upon  the  usual  continuous  arcade, 
filled  with  shops  and  stalls.  The  southern  side  is  plain,  ex- 
cept for  the  southwest  corner,  where  stands  the  only  hand- 
some feature  of  the  square:  a  narrow,  four-storied  brick 
building,  erected  in  1444  by  Brancaforte,  embellished  with 
the  most  exquisite  terracotta  ornamentation, —  of  gothic  ar- 
caded  string-courses  with  miniature  spiral  columns,  magnifi- 
cent pointed  window-frames,  and  richly  moulded  cornices; 
all  rising  upon  a  ground-arcade  of  fine  red-marble  shafts. 
—  This  picturesque  old  Piazza  Erbe  is  the  true  heart  of 
the  city,  the  crowded  centre  of  its  traffic  and  its  gossip: 
thronged  as  I  have  pictured  it,  at  morning  and  midday,  but 
closing  up  a  large  portion  of  its  booths,  like  folding  flowers, 
with  the  westward  sinking  of  the  sun. 

Traversing  another  short  passage,  beside  the  brick  tower, 
I  entered  the  smaller  Piazza  Broletto  on  the  Palazzo's  north: 


MANTOVA  LA  GLORIOSA  441 

along  its  west  side  continued  the  street  proper,  with  its  ar- 
cades and  shops,  and  upon  the  northern  and  eastern  sides 
rose  common,  old,  stuccoed  buildings;  with  this  exception, — 
that  from  the  Palazzo,  behind  the  tower,  there  leapt  at  a 
goodly  height  across  a  street  leading  eastward,  to  the  near- 
est house,  a  quaint  two-storied  archway,  making  a  wide  brick 
curve.  This  charming  relic  of  the  gothic  age  was  adorned 
in  its  lower  division  with  two  beautiful  triple-arched  win- 
dows, having  marble  shafts,  and  in  its  upper,  with  a  delight- 
ful marble  colonnade,  of  slender,  coupled  members,  one  be- 
hind another;  it  was  an  archway  such  as  one  finds  in  Italy 
alone.  Near-by  on  the  Palazzo's  northern  wall,  looking  over 
the  inevitable  aggregation  of  canvas-covered  stands  filling 
the  square's  centre,  sat  a  strange,  archaic,  marble  figure,  of 
lifesize,  within  a  large,  elaborate  gothic .  niche,  displaying 
an  amused  but  placid  smile  upon  its  bulbous  features.  It 
was  Mantua's  monument  to  her  beloved  Virgil,  erected  in 
1220. 

"  Proud  of  having  given  birth  to  Virgil,  Mantua  elevated 
him  to  be  her  prince,  painted  his  likeness  upon  her  banners, 
and  engraved  it  upon  her  coins ;  and  when  in  the  beginning  of 
the  13th  century  her  citizens  had  raised  the  siege  of  the  castle 
of  Gonzaga  and  repulsed  the  Cremonese,  the  magistrates 
decreed  that  to  commemorate  the  event  a  statue  of  the  great 
poet  should  be  placed  in  a  niche  above  the  Piazza,  whence  it 
might  look  down  as  if  taking  part  in  the  joys  and  sorrows 
of  his  compatriots.  As  it  was  undoubtedly  made  by  their 
best  sculptor,  we  are  justified  in  taking  it  as  a  proof  that  his 
art  was  then  in  a  rude  state.  Virgil  is  seated  before  a  read- 
ing-desk upon  which  lies  a  book,  wearing  the  cap  of  a  rector 
of  the  people  and  a  long  robe." 33  The  crude,  coupled, 
gothic  columns  and  the  peculiar  foliated  reliefs  of  the  pointed 

33  Perkins'   "  Italian  Sculptors." 


442  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

arch  of  the  canopy,  are  also  very  interesting  and  significant 
of  the  then  state  of  the  sculptor's  art. 

Another  short  passage  now  led  me  at  last,  beneath  a  lofty 
brick  archway  containing  dwelling-rooms,  into  the  vast  and 
famous  Piazza  Sordello.  Its  enormous  extent  flashed  upon 
me  with  surprise,  stretching  far  away  to  the  north,  and  up  a 
gentle  slope  to  the  east;  so  that  the  mighty  palace-city  of 
the  (jonzaghi,  upon  which  I  gazed  for  the  first  time,  raised 
its  long  and  variegated  facade  of  many  epochs  on  the  summit 
of  an  elevation, —  which  was  the  site  of  the  first  settlement 
between  the  lakes.  The  centre  of  the  huge  parallelogram, 
cobble-paved  and  grass-grown,  was  marked  by  a  marble  monu- 
ment with  a  tall  obelisk,  topped  by  a  female  figure  bearing 
a  crown  of  glory  and  a  flag, —  Mantua's  memorial  to  the 
Martyrs  of  Belfiore.  It  consisted  of  a  mound  of  artificial 
rocks  fully  ioo  feet  long,  a  ponderous  granite  base  mounted 
by  flights  of  steps,  and  a  large  square  pedestal  beneath  the 
obelisk,  adorned  with  a  sculptured  lion  on  the  front  side, 
and  carved  in  relievo  with  the  grouped  busts  of  the  heroes 
upon  a  golden  ground. 

Behind  this  the  giant  facade  of  the  Reggia  crested  the 
slope,  in  four  or  five  different  buildings.  Proceeding  north- 
ward, the  first  portion,  and  latest,  consisted  of  a  long  front 
of  crumbling  brown  stucco,  pierced  with  three  tiers  of  very 
modern  windows,  shaded  by  a  row  of  fine  horsechestnut  trees, 
and  overtopped  by  a  tall  mediaeval  brick  tower,  rising  some- 
what to  east  of  the  corner,  and  frowning  down  with  gaunt, 
unwindowed  walls.  Next  came  the  original  gothic  palace 
of  the  Buonacolsi,  where  the  Gonzaghi  first  gained  their 
power  by  the  tyrant's  assassination  in  1328:  it  consisted  of 
two  structures, —  the  first  a  lofty,  four-storied,  gothic,  brick 
edifice,  rising  upon  a  splendid  renovated  arcade,  of  red- 
marble  columns  and  pillars  supporting  pointed  brick  arches, 


MANTOVA  LA  GLORIOSA  443 

with  voussoirs  in  alternate  red  and  yellow  bands.  Above, 
the  major  part  of  its  windows  had  also  been  recently  recon- 
structed in  the  original  manner:  the  single-arched  openings 
of  the  first  floor  being  pointed  in  the  northern  half,  rounded 
in  the  southern ;  those  of  the  second  floor  were  a  row  of  small 
square  apertures;  and  those  of  the  third,  or  piano  noblle, 
a  row  of  six  superb  gothic  double-arches  with  marble  shafts, 
recessed  in  brown  brick  frames  with  several  white  quoins 
to  the  outer  arch, — "  the  most  exquisite  examples  of  their 
class,"  said  Street,  "that  I  anywhere  met  with;"  the  eaves 
were  crowned  by  picturesque,  forked  battlements  of  the 
Ghibelline  style.  Behind  those  upper  windows  lay  the  great 
hall  where  Pius  II  gathered  his  general  council  of  the  Church 
to  deliberate  upon  his  crusade  against  the  Turks. 

The  second  Buonacolsi  structure  rose  upon  a  similar  ar- 
cade, of  pointed  brick  arches  with  red  and  white  quoins, 
resting  on  heavy  marble  columns;  above  which  its  brownish 
brick  facade  was  irregularly  broken  by  a  scattering  mixture 
of  variegated  windows,-!-  large  and  small,  single  and  double- 
arched,  gothic  and  romanesque,  some  enclosed  in  frames  of 
elaborately  coloured  brickwork ; 33a  there  were  no  battle- 
ments, but  the  whole  effect  was  most  picturesque.  This  was 
the  oldest  part  of  the  Reggia, —  and  the  last  used  for  a  royal 
purpose:  for  in  its  first-floor  rooms,  in  18 14,  dwelt  the  ill- 
fated  Prince  Eugene  and  his  consort.  Beyond  this  the  fa- 
gade  became  a  plain,  unwindowed,  stucco  wall  supported 
upon  a  heavy  stucco  arcade,  entirely  painted  yellow,  fronting 
upon  the  northern  bay  of  the  piazza;  it  was  not  an  edifice 
proper,   but  the  face  of  the  vaults  upholding  the  Reggia's 

33a  All  these  windows,  according  to  my  latest  advices,  are  being 
rapidly  restored  to  their  original  designs,  of  the  early  epoch  of 
the  Gonzaghi;  so  that  my  description  will  probably  not  accord 
with  what  the  visitor  now  sees. 


444  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

extraordinary  hanging  garden.  At  its  end  came  a  queer 
sort  of  small  triumphal  archway,  likewise  of  yellow  stucco, 
guarding  —  as  I  later  found  —  the  entrance-passage  to  the 
extensive  series  of  courtyards;  and  beyond  this  again  was  a 
modern  covered  market,  used  in  the  annual  July  fairs,  which 
stands  upon  the  ground  formerly  occupied  by  the  ducal  thea- 
tre,—  the  latter  having  been  pulled  down  several  years  ago 
on  account  of  its  tottering  and  dangerous  condition. 

Returning  to  the  piazza  proper  34  I  gazed  at  its  western 
side,  which  was  fully  as  picturesque  as  the  eastern, —  a  suc- 
cession of  ancient,  stuccoed,  mouldering  palaces,  of  divers 
styles.  The  two  southernmost  were  of  the  gothic  era,  grim, 
decayed  and  battlemented,  deprived  by  the  changes  of  time 
of  nearly  all  their  original  pointed  windows  of  the  13th  cen- 
tury. Once  they  were  the  splendid  houses  of  noble  and 
famous  families :  that  next  the  southern  entrance-arch  was  the 
Palazzo  Cadenazzi,  topped  by  an  enormous  brick  fighting- 
tower,  rising  someway  back;  from  the  adjacent  southern 
street  I  could  see  the  iron  cage  still  fastened  to  its  side  near 
the  crumbling  top,  in  which  the  Buonacolsi  were  wont  to 
expose  their  unhappy  prisoners  for  three  days  running,  at  the 
time  when  they  possessed  the  palace ;  —  hence  its  name  of 
Torre  della  Gabbia.  The  other  structure  was  the  Palazzo 
Castiglione  (originally  Buonacolsi),  where  the  family  of  the 
renowned  poet-courtier  dwelt  in  after  years.  (The  house 
to  which  he  brought  the  fair  young  Ippolita  Torelli  of  Bo- 
logna, on  that  bright  October  day  of  15 16  when  Isabella  and 
Elisabetta  Gonzaga  stood  in  the  entrance-hall  to  welcome 
his  bride,  then  stood  near-by,  in  the  Via  Pradella.)  Here 
was  the  portal  which  received  the  Buonacolsi  in  their  days 
of  power,  with  its  broad  marble  arch  adorned  with  foliated 

34  Its  northern  bay  is  but  half  the  width  of  the  main  part  of  the 
square, —  which  is  thus  narrowed  by  the  bulky  Cathedral. 


MANTOVA  LA  GLORIOSA  445 

reliefs,  and  the  handsome  marble  balcony  just  overhead;  four 
out  of  the  seven  great  triple  windows  of  the  second  floor 
also  linger  yet,  with  their  gleaming  slender  marble  columns. 
North  of  this  stretched  the  huge  Palazzo  Vescovile,  in  its 
ugly,  stuccoed,  rococo  fagade  of  inharmonious  broken  lines 
and  make-believe  solidity,  painted  the  usual  yellowish  brown 
of  that  period, —  its  window-frames  and  cornices  shaped  in 
convoluted  baroque,  with  the  customary  imitation-pilasters 
laid  on,  to  add  a  little  dignity.  Two  giant  Hermes  stood 
beside  the  doorway  to  support  the  balcony  above,  and  a 
long  row  of  urns  and  statues  crowned  the  balustrade  of  the 
roof.  It  was  a  typical  building  of  the  18th  century.  Ad- 
jacent, facing  southwestward  from  the  left  side  of  the  piaz- 
za's end,  stood  the  Cathedral  which  Giulio  rebuilt, —  its 
fagade  likewise  of  yellowish  stucco  and  baroque  design ;  four 
mighty  corinthian  pilasters  upheld  its  entablature  and  pedi- 
ment in  classic  form,  embracing  the  three  plain  doorways 
and  rococo  windows.  Between  its  right  side  and  the  Reggia 
extended  the  piazza's  long  northern  bay,  the  former  looking 
upon  it  with  a  mass  of  beautiful  cotta  decorations  —  of  the 
earlier,  gothic  church, —  in  frieze,  cornice,  window-mould- 
ings and  gables.  Here  also,  behind  the  transept,  rose  its 
massive,  tall,  plastered  campanile,  of  the  12th  century,  pierced 
near  the  top  with  three  irregular  rows  of  romanesque  arcaded 
windows. —  The  interior  of  the  Duomo,  as  the  sun  was  set- 
ting, I  left  for  another  day;  and  wended  my  way  slowly 
backward  through  the  long  series  of  shadowy,  historic  piaz- 
zas, calling  up  visions  of  the  countless  dead,  famous  and  in- 
famous, who  had  thronged  them  thus  at  eventide  during  two 
thousand  years. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

MANTUA  THE  MAGNIFICENT 

"  The  noble-minded  Isabel,  who,  where 
It  stands  on  Mincio's  bank,  in  other  age 
Shall  gild  the  town  of  Ocnus'  mother  hight, 
With  her  own  glorious  rays,  by  day  and  night; 
Where  with  her  worthiest  consort  she  will  strain 
In  honoured   and  in   splendid    rivalry, 
Which  best   shall   prize  the  virtues'   goodly   train, 
And  widest  ope  the  gates  to  courtesy. — 
'Twill  be  upheld,  Penelope,  the  chaste, 
As  such,  was  not  beneath  Ulysses  placed." 

Ariosto's  "  Orlando  Furioso  ";  Rose's  Tran. 

Mantua  has  been  unusually  distinguished  by  her  women. 
In  the  glorious  Renaissance  days  she  had  not  only  Isabella 
d'Este,  but  Elisabetta  Gonzaga,  and  Leonora  Gonzaga,  Isa- 
bella's daughter, —  both  duchesses  of  Urbino,  and  both  re- 
markable for  their  wit,  learning  and  accomplishments.  In 
the  Middle  Age  she  had  that  foremost  of  all  Italian  women, 
Matilda  of  Tuscany,  "  La  Gran  Donna  d'ltalia"  who  made 
Mantua  her  home  and  the  capital  of  her  wide  domains,  as 
her  fathers  had  done  before  her.1  Thence  she  defied  Em- 
peror Henry  IV  and  entered  into  a  league  against  him  with 
the  Guelfs  and  various  cities ;  in  consequence  of  which  Henry 
besieged  the  city  in  1090,  capturing  it  after  a  year's  wait  by 
the  aid  of  treachery.  In  the  latter  part  of  her  long  and 
eventful  life  Matilda  devoted  much  time  and  treasure  to  the 
neighbouring  convent  of  S.  Benedetto,  about  15  miles  distant, 
which  was  founded  by  her  grandfather  Tebaldo,  and  enriched 

1  Mrs.  M.  E.  Huddy's  "  Matilda,  Countess  of  Tuscany." 

446 


MANTUA  THE  MAGNIFICENT  447 

by  her  with  many  grants  of  land,  besides  her  celebrated 
collection  of  manuscripts.  There  she  was  buried,  in  a  "  beau- 
tiful, simple  ark  of  alabaster,  upheld  by  eight  slender  col- 
umns; "  2  but  her  remains  were  later  removed  to  St.  Peter's 
at  Rome,  where  they  now  lie,  beneath  Bernini's  splendid 
memorial. 

Matilda  and  her  line  were  closely  connected  with  the 
grand  old  gothic  Cathedral  of  Mantua,  which  Giulio  Romano 
transformed  into  a  classic  temple ;  but  its  walls  and  founda- 
tions remain  the  same.  And  it  was  to  Countess  Matilda  that 
my  thoughts  first  turned,  when  I  repaired  to  visit  it  on  the 
morning  after  my  arrival.  Here  her  father,  Marquis  Boni- 
face,3 was  buried,  and  the  place  where  his  ashes  rest  is  marked 
by  a  black  stone  in  the  west  wall  of  the  retro-choir,  cut  with 
this  inscription  in  Latin:  "  Here  lies  the  excellent  Lord 
Boniface,  Marquis  and  Father  of  the  most  serene  Lady 
Countess  Matilda,  who  died  May  6,  1052."  Here  her 
worthy  friend  and  valued  counsellor,  Anselm,  was  buried  in 
1086,  with  great  ceremony;  and  within  these  walls  was  held 

2  Nora    Duff's   "  Matilda   of   Tuscany." 

3  It  was  he  that  gathered  together  the  enormous  estates  afterward 
so  worthily  administered  by  Matilda,  who  was  the  chief  support  of 
Pope  Hildebrand  in  his  contest  with  Emperor  Henry  IV;  her  pos- 
sessions included  "  a  great  part  of  Tuscany,  the  province  of  Viterbo 
as  far  as  Orvieto,  the  province  of  Umbria,  practically  all  the 
Marche  of  Ancona,  and  the  cities  of  Mantua,  Parma,  Piacenza, 
Reggio,  Ferrara,  Modena  and  Verona."  {Annali  del  Friuli.)  She 
had  her  due  revenge  for  the  taking  of  Mantua  when  she  lived  to 
witness  Henry  standing  barefoot  on  the  frozen  ground,  fasting  and 
praying  three  days  before  the  Pope's  castle  of  Canossa,  until  Hilde- 
brand accepted  his  abject  repentance.  Upon  Matilda's  death,  in 
1115,  she  completed  her  unequalled  benefactions  to  the  Papacy  by 
devising  to  it  in  perpetuity  those  provinces  of  Umbria  and  Viterbo, 
which  formed  at  once  the  beginning,  and  ever  afterwards  the  prin- 
cipal part,  of  the  temporal  "  States  of  the  Church." 


448  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

that  general  council  of  the  Church  and  princes,  in  1064,  to 
discuss  the  validity  of  the  recent  election  of  Alexander  II  to 
the  Papacy.  The  Pope  and  the  College  of  Cardinals  were 
escorted  all  the  way  from  Rome  by  Matilda  and  her  step- 
father,—  Duke  Godfrey;  and  they  were  met  at  the  city's 
outskirts  by  her  mother,  with  a  glittering  cortege.  All  the 
decorations  and  entertainments  were  upon  a  magnificent  scale. 
The  conclave  duly  approved  Alexander's  election  (the  choice 
of  Hildebrand) — although  it  was  attacked  one  day  by  a 
crowd  of  rioters,  instigated  by  the  latter's  enemies ;  these  were 
forcing  their  way  into  the  Cathedral  with  arms  in  hand, 
when  the  Countess-Mother  arrived  with  troops  just  in  time 
to  prevent  a  tragedy. 

But  of  this  storied  past  not  a  sign  was  visible,  as  I  stood 
gazing  down  the  imposing,  colonnaded  nave;  all  was  gran- 
deur, gilding,  and  comparative  newness;  none  would  dream 
that  a  gothic  edifice  of  momentous  history  once  occupied  the 
place  of  this  Roman  temple.  Giulio  did  his  work  not  only 
thoroughly,  but  superbly :  4  down  each  side  ran  two  long  rows 
of  beautiful  corinthian  columns,  tall  and  finely  proportioned, 
topped  by  no  arches,  but  by  rich  continuous  architraves  of 
frieze  and  cornice,  adorned  with  gilded  marble  reliefs;  form- 
ing thus  double  aisles  upon  each  hand,  the  first  covered  with 
rounded  vaulting,  elaborately  stuccoed  and  painted,  the  sec- 
ond roofed  with  lower,  flat  ceilings,  of  similar  decoration. 
The  spacious  building,  thus  open  from  wall  to  wall,  presented 
a  grand  spectacle  with  these  four  noble  colonnades,   rising 

4 "  Giulio  dashed  here" — said  Forsyth  in  his  "Excursion  in 
Italy"  (1801) — "into  all  the  irregularities  of  genius,  and  ran 
after  the  Tuscan  graces,  the  mighty,  the  singular,  the  austere,  the 
emphatic."  Eustace  in  his  "  Classical  Tour,"  called  it  "  a  very  reg- 
ular and  beautiful  edifice,"  and  the  Chapel  of  the  Holy  Sacrament, 
"  an  exquisite  specimen  of  Mantuan  taste." 


MANTUA  THE  MAGNIFICENT  449 

from  the  polished  marble  floor.  Overhead  the  nave  was 
lighted  by  a  row  of  oblong  windows  on  each  side,  alternating 
with  large  niches  occupied  by  statues;  between  which  Corin- 
thian pilasters  mounted,  to  sustain  the  upper,  gilded  cornice. 
Its  roof  was  flat,  and  heavily  coffered,  with  more  exuberance 
of  gilding.  Triumphal  arches  separated  the  transept  from 
the  nave,  and  from  the  lofty  high-altar-recess,  and  over  the 
intersection  soared  the  white  cylinder  of  the  dome.  The 
spaciousness  was  further  emphasized  by  the  numerous  domed 
side-chapels,  opening  into  each  other  by  connecting  archways. 
Halfway  down  the  left  side  stood  the  covered  pulpit  be- 
tween two  columns,  square  in  shape,  raised  high  upon  four 
slender  corinthian  shafts,  its  sides  decorated  with  stucco  re- 
liefs. At  the  beginning  of  the  outer  left  aisle  I  observed 
a  fine  marble  sarcophagus  of  the  I2th  century,  bearing  on 
its  gabled  lid  an  interesting  relief  of  the  Nativity.  The  first 
few  chapels  here  had  no  noteworthy  contents,  but  farther 
down  there  opened  a  deep  passage  leading  to  Alberti's  hand- 
some chapel  of  the  Incoronata:  this  was  of  delightfully  har- 
monious lines,  in  the  form  of  a  Greek  cross,  crowned  by  a 
cupola;  and  contained  three  canvases  from  the  school  of 
Giulio, —  one  of  them  a  pretty  Madonna  with  angels.  At 
the  end  of  the  left  transept  opened  another  striking  chapel, 
that  of  the  Sacrament,  designed  by  Giulio  in  an  octagonal 
form,  with  its  walls  and  dome  profusely  covered  by  stucco 
reliefs,  gilded  and  painted.  The  recessed  archways  running 
around  the  walls  held  seven  large  canvases,  mostly  by  Ro- 
mano himself,  all  of  exceeding  grace  and  naturalness,  richly 
toned  and  highly  finished:  the  four  Evangelists  occupied  the 
corners,  a  martyrdom  of  S.  Gregorio  the  right  side,  and  a 
S.  Margherita  of  Cortona  being  crowned  by  an  angel,  the 
left  side;  while  over  the  altar  were  seen  the  Saviour  and 
Sts.  Peter  and  Andrew  on  the  Lake  of  Galilee, —  a  very  life- 


450  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

like  composition.  Lanzi  says  that  Fermo  Guisoni  painted  the 
last,  from  one  of  Giulio's  cartoons ;  and  Berenson  ascribes 
the  S.  Margherita  to  Brusasorci,  the  Martyrdom  to  Paolo 
Farinata, —  in  which  last  he  is  probably  right. 

The  floor-space  beneath  the  dome  I  found  divided  from  the 
nave  by  a  red  marble  balustrade,  and  reserved  for  the  choir, 
for  which  there  was  not  sufficient  room  in  the  shallow  lady- 
chapel;  the  cupola,  above  the  8  windows  of  its  drum,  was 
painted  with  a  huge  Gloria  of  the  decadent  period.  Other 
frescoes  of  no  account  adorned  the  rounded  vaulting  of  the 
transepts,  which  was  of  even  height  with  the  flat  roof  of  the 
nave ;  and  a  huge  work  by  the  early  seicentlst,  Domenico 
Feti,  decorated  the  half-dome  of  the  apse.  In  the  eastern 
line  of  side-chapels  appeared  one  more  noteworthy  painting, 
a  canvas  of  S.  Eligio  shoeing  a  horse,  by  Paolo  Farinata, — 
over  the  altar  nearest  the  front. 

On  leaving  the  church,  I  proceeded  down  the  northern 
bay  of  the  piazza  between  it  and  the  hanging  garden  of  the 
Reggia,  turned  slightly  to  the  right  at  the  farther  end,  by 
the  covered  market,  and  passing  eastward  along  the  lat- 
ter's  side,  through  a  modern  city-gateway  for  the  taking  of 
^/tfzz'o-duties,  emerged  upon  the  western  shore  of  the  northern 
lake  beside  the  ancient  Castello.  There  it  lay  mirror-like  be- 
tween its  reedy  shores, —  the  long  stretch  of  greenish-blue 
water  beloved  by  Isabella,  curving  round  in  a  great  quarter- 
circle  from  the  north  to  the  eastern  bridge  —  the  Ponte  S. 
Giorgio, —  whose  innumerable  brick  arches  ran  straightaway 
for  over  half  a  mile.  The  lake  proper  was  narrowed  to  half 
this  breadth  by  the  large  extent  of  rushes  along  its  farther 
side,  growing  so  thickly  as  to  seem  at  the  first  glance  like 
solid  land ;  behind  them  rose  a  gentle  green  slope  of  meadows 
and  trees,  in  whose  full  stretch  but  a  solitary  building  was 
visible;  trees  of  every  size  lined  the  water's  edge,  and  ex- 


MANTUA  THE  MAGNIFICENT  451 

tended  inland  in  dense  groves  to  distant  rows  of  poplars. 
But  that  which  endowed  the  whole  scene  with  marvel  and 
majesty  —  it  being  a  clear  day,  of  distant  views  —  was  the 
magical  chain  of  snow-white  mountains  glittering  down  from 
the  northern  horizon, —  jagged,  innumerable  and  far-stretch- 
ing, suspended  seemingly  in  the  deep  blue  sky,  at  once  for- 
midable and  of  entrancing  beauty ;  they  were  the  Alps  behind 
Verona  and  Vicenza, — visible  thus  clearly  only  when  the  at- 
mosphere is  transparent. 

On  the  lake's  bosom  moved  a  single  vessel,  a  heavy  ancient 
barge  with  flapping  yellow  sail,  propelled  by  sweeps,  which 
had  evidently  just  passed  the  draw  of  the  bridge,  coming  up 
from  the  Po;  a  number  of  dingy-looking  fishing  boats,  also, 
were  drawn  up  on  the  hither  shore,  and  beside  them  kneeled 
a  throng  of  brightly-dressed  women,  washing  their  linen 
on  the  stones.  Seldom  subsequently  did  I  behold  any 
more  life  than  this  upon  the  sleeping,  forgotten  water, 
which  seemed  to  have  in  its  peaceful  vista  some  Lethean, 
soporific  spell,  suggesting  utter  unchangeableness  from  the 
days  when  the  boy  Virgil  played  upon  its  banks. 

"  In  the  meadows  at  Mantua, 
But  to  have  Iain  upon  the  grass 
One  perfect  day,  one  perfect  hour, 
Beholding  all  things  mortal  pass 
Into  the  quiet  of  green  grass."  5 

Upon  the  long,  historic  bridge,  with  its  extensive  solid  ap- 
proaches, its  countless  brick  arches,  and  its  double  draw  lifted 
by  heavy  balance-beams  on  arched  supports,  the  movement 
was  much  more  animated.  At  its  farther  end  rose  a  high 
square  guard-tower,  of  formidable  look;  and  through  this 
there  came  galloping,  two  by  two,  headed  by  a  dashing  cap- 

5  A.  Symons. 


452  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

tain,  a  full  troop  of  cavalry,  a  hundred  strong, —  increasing 
from  black  dots  to  a  thunderous  whirlwind  dashing  by. 
Then  a  funeral  plodded  solemnly  to  the  other  shore, —  the 
simple,  open  hearse,  bearing  the  coffin  covered  only  by  a  pall 
and  flowers,  being  followed  by  a  dozen  orderless  male  mourn- 
ers on  foot,  and  three  coaches  of  women.  Besides  this  the 
ordinary  traffic  was  continuous, —  a  chain  of  contadint  al- 
ways passing  each  way,  with  their  heavy  two-wheeled  carts, 
wagons  drawn  by  oxen,  and  occasional  lighter  vehicles.  But 
the  grand  old  Castello,  to  whose  foot  the  bridge  brought  them, 
glowered  mightily  down  from  its  machicolated  towers  as 
though  no  change  had  taken  place  since  the  days  of  knights 
and  armour;  ancient  indeed  it  appeared,  in  its  rough,  stained 
brick  walls,  but  as  intact,  as  ponderous  and  menacing,  as 
when  it  lorded  over  the  countryside  far  and  wide. 

In  general  shape  it  was  a  huge  quadrangle,  three  storeys 
high,  surrounded  still  by  the  deep,  wide  moat,  now  drained 
of  its  water ;  at  each  of  the  four  corners  rose  a  massive  square 
tower,  projecting  from  the  mass  and  one  storey  taller,  capped 
with  machicolations  of  imposing  depth,  and  battlements  now 
built  up  and  roofed  over.  Subsidiary  towers  projected  from 
the  middle  of  the  western  and  southern  sides,  to  guard  the 
bridges  there  crossing  the  moat  and  connecting  with  the  rest 
of  the  palace-city;  that  on  the  west  was  a  covered,  masonry 
bridge,  and  on  the  south  Giulio  Romano  had  built  his  famous 
staircase,  crossing  to  the  adjacent  palace  of  S.  Sebastiano 
with  the  state  apartments  of  the  Trojan  Cycle.  All  around 
the  castle,  above  its  spreading  base,  ran  a  rounded  mould- 
ing of  white  stone  or  marble ;  beneath  which  opened  a  series 
of  small,  deep,  heavily  barred  windows,  just  above  the  water- 
line,  marking  the  original  dungeons  The  upper  windows 
had  been  evidently  made  over  in  modern  times,  being  square 
and   frameless, —  all  except  two  remaining  gothic  apertures 


MANTUA  THE  MAGNIFICENT  453 

in  the  northwest  tower,  of  double,  pointed  arches,  in  fair 
brick  frames. 

The  northeast  tower,  in  its  second  storey  above  ground, 
holds  the  celebrated  Camera  degli  Sposi.  Beside  the  south- 
east one  there  projected  from  the  fagade  toward  the  lake  an 
extra,  small,  battlemented  turret,  three  storeys  in  height,  in 
whose  first  floor  above  ground  was  the  original  retreat  con- 
structed by  Isabella,  which  she  called  her  "  Studiolo  ";  upon 
her  son's  marriage  a  bridge  was  thrown  from  this  turret 
across  the  moat,  and  a  small  structure  erected  on  the  farther 
side  which  was  named  the  Palazzina;  this,  however,  becom- 
ing shaky,  was  demolished  in  1899,  leaving  Isabella's  turret 
as  it  originally  stood. —  Here  a  full  view  was  afforded  of  the 
aforesaid  wing  of  the  castle  built  upon  its  south  by  Giulio, 
containing  the  state  apartments  of  the  Trojan  Cycle:  ex- 
ternally, it  was  but  a  large,  ruinous,  stucco  building  of  two 
storeys,  with  only  one  remnant  of  its  former  glory, —  a  group 
of  three  fine  renaissance  windows,  fronting  upon  the  lake 
from  the  middle  of  the  piano  nobile,  with  red  marble  frames. 

Advancing  upon  the  Ponte  S.  Giorgio,  I  saw  the  Lago  In- 
feriore  stretching  away  to  the  south  for  2  or  3  miles,  enclosed 
in  similar  beds  of  rushes  and  low,  wooded  banks,  with  no 
buildings  visible  except  some  of  the  long  roofs  of  the  Reggia 
over  the  tree  tops.  To  northwest  the  lake-shore  was  lined 
by  low  houses  and  gardens,  turning  their  backs  upon  the 
muddy  coast.  I  returned  to  Piazza  Sordello,  and  my  inn ; 
and  on  starting  forth  again  after  lunch,  took  the  eastward 
turning  from  Piazza  Broletto,  under  the  beautiful  colonnaded 
archway  already  mentioned.  After  passing  a  peculiar  palace 
with  a  front  exactly  like  a  late-Renaissance  church,  and  a 
lofty  mediaeval  brick  tower,  unwindowed  and  resting  upon 
a  base  of  Roman  stones,  I  reached  the  Piazza  Dante,  contain- 
ing a  statue  of  that  poet  in   its  central   grass-plot.     Here 


454  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

were  gathered  all  of  Mantua's  art-institutions;  the  Reale 
Accademia  Virgiliana  di  Scienze  e  Belle  Arti,  founded  by 
Maria  Teresa,  and  the  more  recent  Museo  Patrio,  together 
occupied  an  imposing  palazzo  of  1 767,  on  the  piazza's  east- 
ern side,  having  a  modern  stuccoed  facade  distinguished  by 
a  row  of  huge  ionic  pilasters  two  storeys  in  height,  supporting 
a  heavy,  parapeted  cornice;  while  upon  the  south  side  was 
the  plainer,  stuccoed  Palazzo  degl'i  Studi,  of  1763,  containing 
the  city  library,  its  Archivico  Storico  Gonzaga  (or  collection 
of  Gonzaga  state  papers  and  family  documents,  of  great  in- 
terest and  importance  to  the  historical  student)  and  the 
Museo  CivicOj —  or  collection  of  ancient  sculptures. 

Entering  the  latter  edifice,  I  inspected  the  library, —  a 
fine  large  two-storied  hall  on  the  piano  nobile,  surrounded 
by  the  customary  wooden  galleries  overhead ;  but  putting  off 
to  a  later  date  my  examination  of  its  contents,  I  proceeded 
to  the  Museo,  which  proved  to  be  located  in  another  long 
hall  upon  the  same  floor.  It  was  a  gallery  lighted  by  win- 
dows along  the  west  side,  filled  with  sculptures  ranged  un- 
brokenly  around  the  walls,  and  others  extending  in  an  im- 
pressive row  down  the  middle;  their  remarkable  number  and 
clever  arrangement,  and  the  beauty  of  many  of  the  pieces, 
made  a  surprising  and  beautiful  effect.  It  was  indeed  as- 
tonishing to  find  so  many  antique  marbles,  even  in  Mantua, 
considering  the  thoroughness  with  which  the  great  Gonzaga 
collections  were  dispersed;  practically  all  of  these,  however, 
came  from  the  ducal  palaces, —  especially  that  of  Sabbioneta 
—  saved  from  the  wreck  in  one  way  and  another.  To  look 
upon  this  splendid  hall,  and  reflect  that  it  represented  but  a 
small  portion  of  the  antiques  that  once  adorned  the  Reggia 
and  the  Te,  would  be  sufficient  to  open  any  one's  eyes  to  the 
artistic  glories  of  that  princely  house. 

So  many  of  the  pieces  were  surprisingly  good,  of  the  higher 


MANTUA  THE  MAGNIFICENT  455 

periods  of  Greece  and  Rome,  that  I  cannot  even  enumerate  the 
best.  There  were  altars  round  and  square,  cut  with  charm- 
ing reliefs,  sarcophagi  elaborately  carved,  delightful  vases  and 
urns,  splendid  reliefs  detached  from  tombs,  sarcophagi,  etc., 
statues  whole  and  mutilated,  and  portrait-busts  without  num- 
ber, displaying  the  well  known  features  of  emperors  and 
classic  poets.  The  statues  betrayed  the  customary  piecing 
together  of  broken  parts,  which  occasionally  resulted  in  a 
head  ill  suiting  a  body,  but  on  the  whole  they  were  of  a  most 
pleasing  excellence, —  representing  gods  and  goddesses, 
nymphs  and  satyrs,  warriors  and  Roman  ladies.  But  the 
most  beautiful  work  of  all  lay  in  the  reliefs,  the  majority  of 
which  were  in  fair  condition.  Especially  remarkable  among 
them  were  the  Pluto  and  Proserpine  enthroned,  with  Cer- 
berus and  Mercury  (71),  the  feasting  Bacchus  with  two 
nymphs  and  two  satyrs  (158),  the  fight  over  the  body  of 
Patroclus  (186),  the  rape  of  Europa  (259)  and  the  Diana 
and  Endymion  (171). 

Many  of  the  busts  were  unusually  powerful  in  expression 
and  individuality;,  especially  fine  were  the  Antoninus  Pius 
(27),  the  degenerate  Domitian  (38),  the  sorrowful  Matilda 
Augusta  (46"),  the  speaking  Agrippina  (54),  the  masterful 
Tiberius  (62)  and  the  bestial  Caracalla  (302).  A  head  of 
Faustina  (25)  is  alleged  to  be  the  very  one  which  Mantegna 
so  long  cherished,  but  sold  to  Isabella  six  wTeeks  before  his 
death  when  hard  pressed  for  money  through  his  illness;  but 
it  cannot  be  the  same, —  it  is  too  commonplace  and  expres- 
sionless, "  too  poor  to  have  received  the  enthusiasm  of  so  ex- 
quisite a  connoisseur  of  Roman  sculpture  as  Mantegna."  9 
In  a  small,  partly  detached,  front  room  I  found  the  so-called 
Seat  of  Virgil, —  a  fine  ancient  marble  chair  with  a  high 
curved  back,  and  winged  lions  for  the  fore  legs.     Near  it 

6  Maud  Cruttwell's  "  Life  of  Andrea  Mantegna." 


456  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

were  piled  ten  lovely  classic  consoles,  from  some  Roman  build- 
ing; and  the  floor  was  heaped  with  fragments  of  antique 
statuary, —  arms,  legs,  feet,  hands,  etc.,  looking  like  a  surgery 
after  a  battle. 

On  another  day  I  visited  the  Museo  Patrio,  located  upon 
the  ground  floor  in  the  western  part  of  the  Accademia  palace. 
Here  were  collected  sculptures  executed  in  the  mediaeval  and 
Gonzaga  periods,  a  number  of  which  proved  of  much  interest. 
In  the  third  room  was  another  early  statue  of  Virgil  (1242) 
posed  in  the  same  queer  position  as  that  upon  the  Broletto, 
and  surrounded  by  several  quaint  mediaeval  reliefs;  here  was 
a  beautiful  quattrocento  relief,  of  four  genii  holding  the 
Gonzaga  arms,  with  the  heads  of  Lodovico  III  and  his  wife 
Barbara  on  the  right,  their  son  Federigo  and  his  wTife  Mar- 
gherita  of  Bavaria  on  the  left.  Besides  being  exquisitely 
done,  this  was  historically  interesting:  because  when  the 
Bavarian  envoy  arrived  at  Mantua  in  1462,  with  his  "  at- 
tendants all  clad  in  coarse,  red  clothes  of  ugly  shape,  with 
bad  manners  and  rude  habits,"  Federigo  fled  to  Naples  to 
escape  the  union;  the  match  nevertheless  was  plighted;  and 
the  good  Marchesa  searched  everywhere  for  her  errant  son, 
until  "  Federigo,  who  was  discovered  living  in  a  destitute 
condition  under  an  assumed  name,  was  prevailed  upon  to  re- 
turn and  marry  Margaret, —  and  she  made  a  good  wife  and 
mother."  7 

In  this  same  room  I  saw  the  curious  red-marble  sarcopha- 
gus of  Archbishop  Ruffino  Landi  (1378),  adorned  with 
crude  sculptures;  also  five  half-pedestals  of  the  cinquecento, 
with  charming  arabesque  reliefs.  In  the  fourth  room  I  ob- 
served an  excellent  quattrocento  mantel,  and  a  bust  of  Virgil 
with  a  badly  restored  nose,  which  stood  in  the  Piazza  delle 
Erbe  for  centuries.     The  fifth  was  a  chamber  of  unusual 

7  Julia  Cartwright's  "  Isabella  d'Este." 


MANTUA  THE  MAGNIFICENT  457 

terracotta  relics:  among  them  a  fine  bust  of  Gianfrancesco 
III,  Isabella's  husband,  in  a  handsomely  decorated  cuirass; 
two  remarkable  small  reliefs  of  the  Crucifixion, —  one  of 
them  in  the  manner  of  Mantegna,  of  wonderful  modelling, 
expressiveness  and  feeling;  three  lifelike  busts  of  Virgil, 
Spagnuoli  (the  Carmelite  poet)  and  Gianfrancesco  again; 
two  striking  little  reliefs  of  Roman  scenes, —  a  procession, 
and  an  emperor  before  German  chiefs;  and  a  fine  portrait- 
figure  of  Dante,  reading  in  a  library.  There  followed  two 
large  rooms  of  prehistoric  objects  and  skeletons,  from  the  ages 
of  stone  and  bronze,  besides  a  few  Etruscan  vases. 

Upstairs  I  was  shown,  in  the  Accademia  collection,  a  suite 
of  rooms  containing  old  paintings,  coins,  die-stamps,  etchings, 
etc.,  but  few  of  them  of  importance.  The  third  chamber 
held  a  good  copy  of  the  design  of  Mantegna's  great  Madonna 
della  Vittoria,  now  in  the  Louvre;  it  was  painted  to  com- 
memorate the  heroism  of  Gianfrancesco  Gonzaga  and  his 
kinsmen  at  the  battle  of  Taro  (or  Fornovo),  upon  the  anni- 
versary of  which  it  was  for  many  years  afterward  taken  from 
its  shrine  and  borne  in  procession  through  the  streets.  In 
the  main  hall  were  a  number  of  interesting  works,  amongst 
many  of  little  worth;  here  was  the  solitary  remaining  relic 
of  Rubens'  stay, —  a  huge  canvas  now  cut  in  half,  and  in 
bad  preservation,  depicting  a  couple  of  the  Gonzaga  princes 
with  their  wives,  kneeling  before  the  Trinity;  the  latter 
represented  as  the  Father  and  the  Son  seated,  with  the  Dove 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  hovering  above, —  all  apparently  painted 
upon  a  large  cloth  held  by  5  or  6  angels  over  the  heads  of 
the  worshippers.  The  deep,  rich  tone  and  colouring,  the 
golden  light  and  finish,  all  showed  the  influence  of  the  Italian 
schools  then  dominant  in  the  young  master's  mind ;  as  did  also 
the  repose  and  restraint. 

Here  were  two  portraits  of  charming  Gonzaga  women 


458  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

(17,  18),  a  fine  though  colourless  Byzantine  Madonna  of  the 
13th  century  (5),  a  Madonna  with  Sts.  Joseph,  Catherine 
and  others,  from  the  school  of  Pavia  —  a  delightful  picture, 
of  exceeding  tenderness  and  beauty  ( 10) ,  a  Flagellation  by 
Lor.  Costa,  well  moulded  and  deep  in  chiaroscuro,  but  not 
very  pleasing  (12),  an  anonymous  picture  of  the  Christ,  with 
a  noble  head,  falling  under  the  Cross  in  a  cinquecento  street 
(13)  and  a  weeping  Christ  in  the  same  position,  by  Fran. 
Monsignori  (18).  Several  pieces  were  outputs  of  Manteg- 
na's  school,  demonstrating  his  success  as  a  teacher:  a  Ma- 
donna and  devotee,  mostly  destroyed,  but  with  a  most  lovely 
Child  (9),  three  spirited  uncoloured  figures  of  Fortune, 
Merit  and  Virtue,  clearly  showing  Andrea's  guiding  hand 
(20)  and  a  Madonna  with  four  saints  by  Andrea's  pupil,  An- 
tonio da  Pavia,  faithfully  reflecting  his  habits  of  drawing 
(11).  Here,  finally,  was  the  well-known  Beata  Osanna 
(16)  by  Fran.  Bonsignori  of  Verona, —  who  was  called  here 
by  Gianfrancesco  to  decorate  his  villa  of  Marmirolo.  This 
celebrated  Dominican  nun,  Osanna  dei  Andreasi,  a  kins- 
woman of  the  Gonzaghi,  was  widely  adored  during  her  later 
years  for  her  goodness  and  beneficence,  being  popularly  "  sup- 
posed to  have  received  the  stigmata,  and  to  be  endowed  with 
prophetic  gifts. —  Isabella  was  deeply  attached  to  the  Beata 
Osanna,  to  whom  she  turned  in  all  her  troubles,  and  after  her 
death  in  1505  raised  a  splendid  tomb  over  her  ashes. —  In  the 
portrait  —  Isabella  is  said  to  be  introduced,  kneeling  with 
three  of  her  ladies  "  at  the  holy  woman's  feet. 

Mr.  Berenson  places  a  work  of  Caroto  of  Verona  in  this 
collection, —  a  fresco  of  the  Madonna  with  a  donor,  dated 
15 14. —  On  the  first  floor  I  was  farther  shown  the  local 
Museo  del  Risorgimento,  containing  the  usual  assortment 
of  relics  of  that  eventful  period.  After  looking  it  over  I 
returned  to  Piazza  Broletto,  and  kept  on  westward,  along 


MANTUA  THE  MAGNIFICENT  459 

the  Via  Cavour,  which  leads  just  under  the  Torre  della 
Gabbia,  from  before  the  entrance-arch  to  Piazza  Sordello. 
On  the  left  I  soon  passed  one  of  those  impressive  brick  build- 
ings of  the  Renaissance  which  demonstrate  how  very  little 
we  Anglo-Saxons  know  of  the  proper  uses  of  that  material ; 
it  was  a  handsome,  three-storied  palazzo,  with  ground-floor 
windows  framed  in  radiating  rustica,  a  projecting  central 
pavilion  adorned  with  pilasters,  and  fine  cornices  to  the  upper 
windows  and  the  eaves; — all  in  brick,  of  the  best  renais- 
sance lines  and  effectiveness.  Beyond,  on  the  same  side, 
came  another  interesting  all-brick  edifice,  a  lofty  church  of 
rococo  design,  whose  extraordinary  faqade  curved  inward 
from  angle  to  angle;  and  here  a  short  turn  to  the  right 
brought  me  to  the  amazingly  vast  Piazza  Virgiliana. 

This  enormous  open  space,  shaped  like  a  colossal  theatre, 
extends  southwestward  from  the  Lago  di  Mezzo,  halfway 
between  the  two  bridges, —  some  400  metres  in  depth  and 
250  in  breadth.  Around  it  curve  two  long  parallel  rows  of 
varied  trees,  shading  a  driving  path  and  a  gravelled  prom- 
enade, which  are  separated  by  a  green  hedge  from  the  huge 
grassy  field  within,  used  for  public  sports  and  army  exer- 
cises. Insignificant  stuccoed  dwellings  line  the  surrounding 
streets,  with  the  exception  of  one  large  palace  on  the  west, 
crowned  by  statues.  In  the  northern  centre  of  the  field 
rises  the  solitary  edifice  of  the  modern  Teatro  Virgil,  shaped 
like  an  amphitheatre,  with  apsidal  ends;  its  curving  southern 
front  is  a  two-storied  arcade  of  yellowish  stucco,  rusticated 
below  and  adorned  with  half-columns  between  the  upper 
arches ;  through  these  one  sees  the  enclosed  fore-court,  backed 
by  the  lofty  gable  of  the  auditorium.  Not  far  behind  it 
stretches  the  muddy  lake-shore,  whose  monotonous  vista  is 
varied  only  upon  those  few  days  when  the  atmosphere  is 
exceptionally  clear;  and  then,   far  away  to  the  north,  one 


460  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

sees  the  jagged  outlines  of  the  mighty  Alps,  with  their  snow- 
peaks  glittering  against  the  blue. 

I  followed  the  shore  northwestward  for  nearly  half  a 
mile,  to  the  Ponte  dei  Molini;  and,  it  being  near  the  sunset 
hour,  walked  slowly  across  the  ancient  structure,  gazing  over 
the  far  reaches  of  water  to  right  and  left,  and  stopping  at 
the  twelve  old  mills  to  inspect  their  ponderous,  simple  wheels, 
and  the  quaint  statue  of  an  Apostle  that  watched  over  each. 
The  modern  railway  bridge  accompanied  me  on  the  left. 
At  the  farther  end  I  reached  the  hamlet  of  S.  Antonio,  or 
Limone,  as  it  is  sometimes  called  from  its  extensive  culture 
of  that  fruit;  and  here  I  saw  the  old  northern  citadel  of 
Mantua,  guarding  the  approach  to  the  bridge,  with  its  stout 
ramifying  walls  and  bastions  sunk  deeply  in  the  earth ;  — 
a  fortress  once  formidable,  still  impressive,  and  in  Austrian 
days  a  terrifying  political  dungeon.  "  It  was  here  that,  in 
1810,  Andreas  Hofer,  the  Tyrolean  patriot,  was  arrested 
by  order  of  Napoleon.  A  boat  conveyed  him  to  the  prison 
of  Peschiera,  and  he  was  soon  afterward  shot  in  the  citadel 
of  Mantua."  8 

Immediately  to  north  of  Albergo  Sennoner,  on  the  east 
side  of  the  Via  Magistrato,  rises  the  Palazzo  Municipale, 
whose  quiet,  Palladian  fagade  I  passed  every  day;  it  consists 
of  a  high,  rusticated  basement,  of  stone  arches  built  in  with 
stucco  —  except  the  entrance-way, —  and  a  loftier  piano  no- 

8  Robert  A.  MacLeod's  "  On  the  Rhine  and  Other  Pictures." — (For 
the  near-by,  ruined  Palazzo  della  Favorita,  see  next  chapter.)  — 
Hofer's  place  of  concealment  had  been  betrayed  through  a  large 
reward  set  upon  his  head. —  Bearing  "a  crucifix,  wreathed  in 
flowers,  in  his  hand,  he  walked  to  the  place  of  execution. —  He  re- 
fused to  kneel,  or  to  have  his  eyes  bandaged,  but  stood  without 
flinching  to  receive  the  fire  of  his  executioners."  (Miss  R.  H. 
Busk:  The  Valleys  of  Tirolo.)  The  spot  is  marked  by  a  simple 
marble  monument,  fenced  in  amidst  a  bower  of  greenery. 


MANTUA  THE  MAGNIFICENT  461 

bile,  adorned  with  large  ionic  half-columns  and  corniced 
windows  with  heavy  balconies,  surmounted  by  a  well  pro- 
portioned cornkione.  A  little  south  of  the  inn  the  street 
widens  into  the  long  Piazza  Garibaldi,  holding  a  statue  of 
the  hero  in  its  centre.  The  central  part  I  found  to  be  noth- 
ing more  than  a  wide  bridge  across  a  little  stream  flowing 
from  the  western  lake  to  the  eastern:  it  was  the  so-called 
Rio,  the  original  moat  of  the  marsh-city,  in  far-off  days 
when  it  was  but  half  the  present  size.  From  the  parapet 
of  the  piazza  I  saw  the  stream  dashing  along  some  25  feet 
below,  darkly  confined  between  the  backs  of  basements; 
westward,  there  projected  at  intervals  along  its  southern 
side  small  stone  colonnades,  aged  and  crumbling,  sustaining 
the  rear  portions  of  dwellings  and  shady  arbours  verdant 
with  trailing  vines  and  potted  plants, —  a  most  picturesque 
vista;  eastward,  there  extended  along  the  same  side  a  long 
colonnade  of  fine  stone  shafts  with  brick  arches,  upholding 
a  broad,  modern  promenade.  Ultimately  the  Rio  empties 
into  a  great  enclosed  basin,  the  Darsena,  or  Porta  Catena, 
connected  by  a  narrow  strait  with  the  Lago  Inferiore;  this 
was  the  ancient  protected  harbour,  or  ship-basin,  where  the 
city's  extensive  water-commerce  could  be  locked  against  all 
enemies ;  but  the  quays  that  once  resounded  with  activity  are 
now  decaying  in  silence. 

After  glancing  at  the  baroque  statue  of  a  Pope,  rising  from 
the  western  parapet, —  seated,  rather,  with  a  cherub  standing 
beside  him, —  I  kept  on  southward,  down  the  right-hand 
street  of  the  two  diverging  from  the  piazza  (Via  Giovanni 
Chiassi)  and  soon  reached  the  large  church  of  S.  Maurizio 
on  its  western  side.  It  had  a  frightful  rococo  faqade  of  yel- 
lowish brown  stucco,  undulating  in  and  out ;  its  interior  was 
an  imposing,  domed  rotunda,  with  a  lofty  nave  on  one  side 
and  chapels  on  the  others.     Three  chapels  also  opened  from 


462  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

each  side  of  the  nave.  The  first  on  the  left  held  in  its  walls 
many  memorial  stones  of  past  martial  heroes, —  a  relic  of 
Napoleonic  days,  when  the  French  commandants  started  to 
make  of  this  edifice  a  sort  of  military  Pantheon ;  and  prom- 
inent among  these  inscriptions  was  one  of  exceeding  interest. 
— "  Johannes  Medices  Hie  Situs  Est  "  :  it  was  the  famous 
Giovanni  delle  Bande  Nere,  of  the  younger  line  of  the 
Medici,  who  if  he  had  lived  5  years  longer  would  perhaps 
have  been  the  first  Duke  of  Florence;  but  he  was  mortally 
wounded  in  a  battle  against  the  Imperialists  near  Governolo 
in  December,  1526,  was  carried  to  Mantua,  and  died  a  few 
days  later  in  the  church  of  S.  Domenico  (now  suppressed) 
whence  this  tablet  was  removed  from  his  tomb.  In  con- 
sequence his  son  Cosimo  became  the  first  Florentine  duke; 
and  his  descendants  ruled  over  Tuscany  until  1859,  inter- 
mingling with  most  of  the  royal  families  of  Europe.  There 
is  hardly  a  sovereign  today  who  cannot  count  this  condot- 
tiere  among  his  ancestors. 

The  pala  of  this  chapel  was  a  S.  Bartolomeo  painted  by 
Boccaccio  Boccaccino  II,  the  nephew  of  the  great  master. 
The  adjacent  chapel  held  the  elaborate  marble  monument 
of  Luigi  Gonzaga,  the  founder  of  the  dynasty,  with  a  fair 
altar-painting  by  Lor.  Garbieri,  a  pupil  of  the  Caracci ;  and 
the  second  and  third  chapels  on  the  opposite  side  contained 
good  examples  of  Lodovico  Caracci. 

Some  four  blocks  farther  south,  at  the  angle  of  Via 
Carlo  Poma,  rises  the  great  church  of  S.  Barbara,  facing 
westward, —  another  splendidly  proportioned,  baroque  edi- 
fice, with  an  ugly  fagade.  It  was  erected  by  Bertani,  and 
filled  with  paintings  of  the  late  Renaissance;  but  two  are 
noteworthy, —  the  huge  Multiplication  of  the  Loaves  and 
Fishes,  by  one  of  the  lesser  Costas,  over  the  main  entrance, 
and   the  Decapitation  of  S.   Barbara  by  Brusasorci,  in   the 


MANTUA  THE  MAGNIFICENT  463 

choir.  Of  the  tomb  of  Giulio  Romano,  who  was  buried 
here,  all  trace  has  been  lost.  Turning  westward  on  the 
Via  Poma,  I  quickly  reached  the  house  of  Giulio  Romano, — 
on  its  left  side  beyond  S.  Barbara, —  the  residence  which 
he  himself  built  and  adorned,  and  occupied  for  years  pre- 
ceding his  death.  It  has  a  charming  stuccoed  facade,  of  a 
most  delicate  and  pleasing  colour-scheme :  the  rusticated  base- 
ment is  of  a  light-brown  tint;  the  first  floor  contains  grey 
relieved  arches  of  radiating  rustica,  holding  daintily  moulded 
window-frames  of  a  lighter  grey,  over  whose  masked  pedi- 
ments the  lunettes  are  coloured  in  imitation  of  purple-veined 
marble;  while  the  beautiful  frieze  and  cornice  —  the  former 
composed  of  circles,  festoons  and  rams'  heads  —  are  again 
of  the  light  brown  hue.  The  string-course  forms  a  gable 
over  the  round-arched  doorway,  above  which,  in  the  central 
upper  arch,  is  a  niche  containing  an  ancient  Greek  statue  of 
Mercury,  exceedingly  lovely.  The  interior,  unfortunately, 
has  suffered  despoliation  of  all  the  adornments  inserted  by 
Giulio ;  the  fagade  also  became  dilapidated,  but  was  carefully 
restored  in   1800. 

Immediately  beyond  this  building  the  broad  street  was 
dignified  by  the  imposing  Palazzo  di  Giustizia,  towering 
massively  upon  its  southern  side, —  the  same  palace  which 
Giulio  erected  at  Federigo's  order  for  his  inamorata,  Isa- 
bella Boschetti,  but  which  has  of  late  years  been  adapted  for 
the  use  of  the  courts.  Its  chief  feature  is  the  series  of  12 
colossal  Hermes  upon  the  upper  parts  of  the  large  pilasters 
running  the  height  of  the  two  upper  storeys, —  their  fearful, 
bearded  heads  posed  as  if  in  support  of  the  heavy  ionic  capi- 
tals. So  aggressive  is  their  uncouth,  ferocious  ugliness, — 
the  aged,  toothless  faces  sneering  through  straggling  locks 
of  ragged  hair  and  ends  of  liberty-cap  strings  —  that  they 
are  really  fascinating,  and  would  surely  torment  the  dreams 


464  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

of  any  child.  The  whole  stuccoed  front  is  of  a  peculiar 
deep  brown  shade,  excepting  the  marble  window-frames  and 
balconies.  The  ponderously  corniced  windows  of  the  rusti- 
cated basement  are  adorned  with  beautiful,  curving,  wrought- 
iron  gratings;  those  of  the  piano  nobile  are  crowned  with 
pediments  alternately  rounded  and  peaked,  and  those  of  the 
third  storey  are  square  and  simple.  The  very  heavy  cornice 
juts  out  above  each  pilaster,  and  the  massive  top  parapet 
protrudes  with  corresponding  pillars.  These  are  the  begin- 
nings of  the  rococo;  and  the  interior  is  similarly  formed  on 
grandiose,  decadent  lines,  which  overreach  themselves  in  the 
efforts  to  be  impressive.  The  great  halls  and  staircases,  and 
some  of  the  smaller  rooms,  are  decorated  with  corresponding 
frescoes  by  the  pupils  of  Bertani. 

A  few  blocks  to  the  south  upon  the  next  street,  Via 
Principe  Amadeo, —  and  most  easily  seen  upon  the  way  to 
the  Palazzo  Te, —  stands  the  abandoned,  ruinous  church  of 
S.  Sebastiano,  which  Alberti  designed  in  1462.  The  interior 
is  stripped  and  unsafe  to  enter.  On  the  exterior  naught 
remains  of  its  once  celebrated  beauty  except  a  fairylike  por- 
tico on  its  left  side,  adorned  with  two  rows  of  slender 
marble  columns,  14  in  number;  from  this  one  enters  to  right 
its  strange,  enclosed  vestibule  running  across  the  front,  lighted 
by  a  row  of  5  windows,  alternately  arched  and  oblong;  and 
here  its  original  main  doorway  can  still  be  seen,  charmingly 
decorated  in  marble. 

Another  interesting  wTalk  which  I  took,  was  that  west- 
ward upon  the  Corso  Vitt.  Emanuele.  Over  the  Rio  it, 
too,  broadened  into  a  spacious  piazza,  on  whose  eastern  side 
rose  the  handsome,  classic  building  of  the  Teatro  Sociale, 
with  a  portico  projecting  on  6  huge  ionic  columns,  and  with 
statues  in  niches  flanking  the  main  portal.  Adjacent,  at 
the    angle    of    Via   Grazioli,    stood    a   pleasing    Renaissance 


MANTUA  THE  MAGNIFICENT  465 

palace,  with  rusticated  basement  and  stone  windows;  and 
immediately  to  the  west,  on  the  Corso's  northern  side,  came 
another  striking  renaissance  structure,  occupied  by  the  Banca 
Agricoldj —  its  second-storey  windows  adorned  with  pilasters 
at  the  angles,  and  those  of  the  third  storey  being  double- 
arched,  on  slender  triple  columns.  Thence  the  avenue  con- 
tinued, broad  and  majestic,  between  fair  buildings  of  even 
height,  prominent  among  which  was  the  large  and  graceful 
renaissance  facade  of  the  Ospedale  Civile.  At  the  end  rose 
the  old  brick  gateway  of  the  Porta  Pradella;  on  traversing 
which  I  found  a  modern  public  garden  set  out  upon  the 
ground  once  covered  by  the  wide  city  moat  and  the  protect- 
ing swamps, —  embellished  with  shrubbery  and  flowerbeds 
amongst  the  clumps  of  young  trees;  while  the  higher  bastion 
of  the  old  fortifications,  that  guarded  the  gate  upon  the 
lake-shore,  no  longer  frowned  with  cannon,  but  looked 
smilingly  across  the  long  blue  expanse  of  the  Lago  Superiore, 
sleeping  in  its  rustic  frame.  The  city  wall  of  Brunelleschi's 
designing  still  remained  intact,  and  swept  away  to  the  south- 
east with  its  grim,  recurrent  lunettes,  along  the  top  of  its 
artificial  ridge. —  Some  distance  farther  out  here  is  the  field 
of  Belfiore,  with  its  monument  to  the  heroes  of  the  Risorgi- 
mento  who  perished  there. — 

The  massive  brick  walls  of  the  city,  faced  by  their  ex- 
traordinary fosse  of  50  to  60  yards'  breadth, —  whose  deep 
depression  still  lingers,  though  long  drained  of  water, —  were 
of  renowned  strength  in  Renaissance  days;  as  Mrs.  Oliphant 
said,  in  speaking  of  Brunelleschi, — "  The  fortifications 
which  he  built  at  Mantua  and  Pisa  were  of  such  a  character 
as  to  justify  the  complimentary  assertion,  that  if  "  every  state 
had  a  man  like  Filippo,  they  might  consider  themselves  safe 
without  arms."  9     I   thought  of  those  earlier  walls,   of  the 

9  Mrs.   Oliphant's  "  Makers  of   Florence." 


466  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

smaller,  mediaeval  city,  which  rose  along  the  inner  side  of 
the  Rio  and  consisted  only  of  wooden  palisades;  yet  even 
they  were  so  unassailable,  that  when  Emperor  Henry  IV 
attacked  them  during  his  siege  of  more  than  a  year 
(1090-91)  he  could  not  take  Mantua  except  by  purchasing 
treachery  within.  Of  course  he  had  no  explosive  artillery, 
and  the  walls  were  approachable  only  by  certain  narrow 
causeways,   guarded   by  high   towers. 

I  found  several  other  churches  which  are  worthy  of  a  visit 
by  one  who  makes  a  long  stay,  distinguished  each  by  one 
or  more  valuable  paintings:  S.  Maria  della  Carita  holds  a 
fine  example  of  Caroto  —  St.  Michael  with  Sts.  John,  Cosmas 
and  Damiano, —  and  a  Martyrdom  of  S.  Biagio  by  Brusa- 
sorci;  S.  Egidio  has  a  portrait  of  the  Beata  Osanna  by  one 
of  the  lesser  Costa's,  and  a  Madonna  with  saints  by  Ben. 
Pagni, —  besides  a  beautiful  piece  of  quattrocento  silk  em- 
broidery done  with  gold  thread ;  S.  Leonardo,  which  was  the 
ancient  Duomo  and  family  church  of  the  Gonzaghi,  and 
where  is  still  celebrated  every  August  1 6th  the  festival  of 
their  exaltation  to  princely  state, —  has  a  fine  old  campanile 
of  1 155,  a  fresco  of  the  Saviour  with  four  prophets  by  Lor. 
Costa,  and  a  lovely  Madonna  with  saints  by  Fran.  Francia; 
S.  Apollonia  contains  two  pictures  by  Luigi  Costa, —  a  fres- 
coed Marriage  of  St.  Catherine  in  Giulio's  style  (perhaps 
indeed  his  work)  and  a  beautiful  Madonna  with  S.  Marta 
by  Dosso  Dossi, —  some  critics  say  by  Bern.  Luini,  but  I 
think  not;  and  the  church  of  the  Ognissanti  holds  an  inter- 
esting fresco  in  the  oratory  attached  to  its  sacristy,  represent- 
ing the  Madonna  enthroned,  with  many  saints  and  angels,  by 
that  rare  old  master  of  Verona, —  Stefano  da  Zevio  (dated 

1463). 

It  was  the  day  after  my  walk  out  to  the  walls,  however, 
that  I  commenced  my  inspection  of  the  palace-city  of  the 


MANTUA  THE  MAGNIFICENT  467 

Gonzaghi, —  even  in  its  ruined  state  one  of  the  wonders  of 
the  world;  and  although  I  kept  steadily  at  the  delightful 
task,  nearly  a  week  had  elapsed  before  the  completion  of 
the  primary  examination,  without  any  doubling  on  my  tracks ; 
—  which  may  suffice  to  give  some  idea  of  its  size.  Further 
visits  were  thereafter  paid  at  intervals,  to  review  the  portions 
of  most  importance.  The  Reggla  of  course  can  be  walked 
through  rapidly  in  a  day, —  leaving  the  bewildered  sight- 
seer in  an  utter  daze,  a  chaos  of  endless  impressions.  But 
to  attempt  now  the  practically  impossible,  and  give  in  words 
any  conception  of  the  vast  place,  it  is  necessary  first  to 
roughly  outline  its  general  plan. 

As  before  mentioned,  it  forms  on  the  whole  an  equi- 
lateral triangle,  with  its  head  to  the  north,  and  its  sides 
running  respectively  southwest  and  southeast.10  I  will  treat 
now  only  of  the  northern  half  of  it, —  the  palace  proper.  Its 
western  side  consists  of  the  two  old  Buonacolsi  palaces  facing 
Piazza  Sordello,  the  hanging  garden,  and  the  market  occu- 
pying the  site  of  the  court-theatre, —  which  last,  bending 
slightly  eastward  from  the  line  of  the  palace-fronts,  reaches 
to  the  western  tower  of  the  Castello.  The  eastern  side 
consists  of  the  Castello,  its  wing  of  the  Trojan  Cycle, —  often 
called  Palazzo  S.  Sebastiano  —  and  the  huge  Cavallerizza. 
The  bottom  of  this  northern  triangle,  connecting  the  Buona- 
colsi palaces  with  the  Cavallerizza,  is  formed  of  three  more 
structures,  running  from  the  inner  side  of  the  two  palaces 
eastwardly  to  the  southern  corner  of  the  tourney-yard  ( Caval- 
lerizza) ;  these  are  the  buildings  of  the  Appartamenti  Ducali 
(which  I  will  call,  for  distinguishment,  the  Corte  Vec- 
chio),  that  containing  the  Paradiso  of  Isabella  (or  Palazzo 

10 The  eastern  side  runs  more  nearly  south,  in  reality;  but  we 
will  call  it  southeast,  for  the  purposes  of  easier  description  with  re- 
gard to  the  points  of  the  compass. 


468  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

Belvidere),  and  that  of  the  Appartamenti  Stivali.  The  large 
open  space  in  the  centre  of  the  Reggia,  also  triangular  in 
shape,  was  filled  by  Duke  Guglielmo  from  1560  to  1580,  by 
erecting  in  its  eastern  portion  the  church  of  S.  Barbara, 
facing  southwest,  and  by  occupying  its  remaining  portion 
with  a  huge  square  cloister,  arcaded  on  all  sides, —  the  so- 
called  Piazza  or  Prato  del  Castello, —  which  thus  filled  in 
the  gap  between  the  church,  the  Castello,  the  theatre  and 
the  hanging  garden.  Above  the  arcade  on  its  southeastern 
side  runs  a  long,  covered  corridor,  leading  directly  from  the 
Corte  Vecchio  to  the  staircase  of  Giulio  Romano  (uniting 
the  Castello  with  Pal.  S.  Sebastiano)  and  giving  a  private 
access,  as  it  passes,  into  the  left  side  of  the  church;  by  this 
route  the  city's  rulers  could  take  their  seats  unobserved  in 
their  private  gallery  above  the  choir;  and  it  afforded  easy 
communication  between  the  distant  parts  of  the  Reggia. 

To  deal  somewhat  more  minutely,  as  is  necessary,  with 
the  bottom  line  of  the  triangle  above  indicated :  the  southern 
Buonacolsi  palazzo,  which  projects  beyond  the  line,  is  a  long, 
shallow  edifice  with  a  depth  of  two  rooms  only ;  the  northern 
is  a  square  structure  of  twice  that  depth,  built  around  the  little 
court  of  S.  Croce;  behind  this  eastward  extends  the  still  larger, 
rectangular  building  of  the  Corte  Vecchio,  surrounding  the 
spacious  Cortile  d'Onore  (Court  of  Honour)  ;  behind  this 
again  is  its  extension  containing  the  Paradiso  (the  Palazzo 
Belvidere),  a  U-shaped  structure  with  its  opening  to  the 
south, —  said  opening  being  called  the  Piazza  Paradiso;  and 
from  the  northeastern  corner  of  the  last  stretches  eastward 
the  long,  low,  narrow  edifice  containing  the  Appartamenti 
Stivali,  to  the  southern  end  of  the  Cavallerizza, —  this  being 
the  final  addition  of  the  Gonzaghi  to  their  beloved  Reggia, 
constructed  by  Duke  Guglielmo  about  1562.  The  Corte 
Vecchio  was  added  to  the  Buonacolsi  edifice  by  one  of  the 


MANTUA  THE  MAGNIFICENT  469 

earlier  Gonzaghi;  the  Belvidere  building  was  erected  by 
Lodovico  II,  and  till  the  end  of  Isabella's  epoch  received 
the  name  amongst  the  family  of  the  "  Casa  Nuova."  An- 
other garden,  once  of  celebrated  beauty,  lies  in  the  angle  be- 
tween the  Stivali  and  the  side  of  the  Paradiso,  overlooked 
by  Isabella's  rooms  in  the  latter, —  the  spacious  Giardino  del 
Padiglione,  bounded  by  an  arcade  on  the  east  and  the  sta- 
bles on  the  south. 

South  of  the  Corte  Vecchio  and  Paradiso  extends  the  vast 
Piazza  della  Lega  Lombarda, —  or,  as  it  was  formerly  called, 
the  Piazza  del  Pallone;  and  beyond  it  on  the  south  and  east 
stretches  the  enormous  congeries  of  buildings  which  were 
devoted  of  old  to  the  great  Gonzaga  stables  and  kennels  — 
with  their  many  hundreds  of  choice  horses  and  hounds, —  the 
general  kitchens,  laundries,  and  other  domestic  establishments, 
as  well  as  the  dwelling  quarters  for  the  innumerable  servitors 
of  all  lines.  In  other  words,  this  southern  half  of  the 
greater  triangle,  separated  from  the  northern  —  the  palace 
proper  —  by  the  Piazza  del  Pallone  and  the  Giardino  del 
Padiglione,  was  the  domestic  portion  of  the  Reggla;  its 
western  front,  toward  the  Piazza  Sordello,  being  closed  by 
the  buildings  containing  the  many  clerical  offices  of  the  state 
departments.  That  front  is  now  in  use  by  the  officials  of 
the  city  and  province,  and  the  rest  of  the  southern  buildings 
are  occupied  as  barracks  by  the  large  garrison  of  Mantua; 
where  Gianfrancesco  III  was  wont  to  exhibit  to  visitors  with 
pride  his  splendid  breed  of  prize-taking  Barbary  horses,  now 
rest  the  simple  chargers  of  the  troops  of  cavalry.  All  this 
portion  is  today  severed  completely  from  the  Reggla  proper, 
which  remains  an  uninhabited  memorial  of  past  grandeur 
and  art. 

Its  entrance  I  found  to  lie,  as  of  old,  under  the  front 
arcade  in  Piazza  Sordello,  between  the  two  palazzi  Buona- 


470  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

colsi:  a  simple  hallway  now,  with  an  office  on  its  right 
where  visitors  are  awaited  by  the  uniformed  governmental 
guides.  The  hall  runs  back  through  the  Corte  Vecchio,  by 
the  south  side  of  its  Court  of  Honour;  but  before  that  the 
great  stairway  turns  off  to  the  left ;  and  up  this  I  was  led,  to 
visit  first  the  upper  floors  of  the  Buonacolsi  edifices.  This 
was  the  portion  of  the  Reggia  which  received  the  renovating 
attentions  of  the  Austrians  under  Maria  Theresa  and  her  son, 
and  which  was  occupied  by  their  governors  and  by  Prince 
Eugene  Beauharnais. —  Right  here  I  must  do  credit  to  the 
guides  of  the  Reggia,  by  saying  that  never  have  I  found  men 
in  their  position  so  uniformly  courteous;  their  information, 
however,  is  not  always  to  be  relied  upon. 

At  the  head  of  the  winding  staircase  one  is  first  ushered 
into  the  large  Sala  dei  Duchi,  overlooking  Piazza  Pallone, 
on  the  southern  side  of  the  northern  palace, —  entirely  in 
white  save  for  the  painted  frieze,  retouched  under  the  French 
dominion,  consisting  of  the  portrait-heads  of  all  the  1 8  reign- 
ing princes  of  Gonzaga,  from  Luigi  I  to  Ferdinando  Carlo.11 
Neither  in  this,  nor  in  a  single  chamber  of  the  whole  Reggia, 
except  the  Appartamento  dell'Imperatrice  used  by  Princess 
Beauharnais,  and  one  or  two  other  rooms,  is  there  any  fur- 
niture remaining. —  From  this  one  enters  the  series  of  large 
chambers  along  the  rear  side  of  the  southern  palace.  The 
first,  the  Sala  delle  Caryatidi,  was  repainted  by  the  Aus- 
trians with  huge  Egyptian  figures  in  grisaille,  upholding  a 
fancied  entablature,  interspersed  with  representations  of  Vir- 
gil, Dante,  Apollo,  Homer,  and  the  nine  Muses,  upon  an 
orange  ground.     There  follow,  proceeding  south,   the  four 

11  In  this  very  chamber  Francesco  IV,  as  a  result  of  the  machina- 
tions of  Gian  Galeazzo  Visconti,  judged  and  condemned  his  innocent 
wife  and  secretary,  in  February,  1391 ;  the  sentence  of  decapitation 
was  executed  in  the  room  directly  below. 


MANTUA  THE  MAGNIFICENT  471 

large  Appartamenti  di  Guastalla,12  redecorated  under  the  last 
of  the  Gonzaghi,  since  fallen  to  ruin,  and  now  undergoing 
repair;  the  first  has  a  painted  oak  ceiling,  and  a  frieze  of  imi- 
tation-marble with  openings  in  which  vases  apparently  stand 
against  the  sky,  and  with  consoles  supported  by  cherubs 
astride  of  dolphins, —  all  charming  seicento  work;  the  second 
has  a  similar  ceiling,  with  gilt  pendants,  and  a  seicento  frieze 
showing  many  of  the  Gonzaga  emblems  and  mottoes,  while 
its  walls  hold  fragmentary,  early  quattrocento  frescoes  re- 
cently discovered  beneath  the  whitewash,  including  the  traces 
of  a  large  quaint  Adoration  of  the  Magi,  and  two  beautiful 
figures  of  a  princess  and  a  sainted  knight;  the  third  is  dis- 
tinguished by  a  grisaille  frieze  of  designs  and  putti;  and  the 
fourth  has  another  fine  oak  ceiling,  painted  in  imitation  of 
tarsia,  with  the  Gonzaga  emblem  of  the  sun  in  every  panel. 

From  the  last  I  entered  the  southernmost  front  room, 
which  exhibits  remains  of  later  frescoing  in  the  shape  of 
fanciful  designs,  eagles  and  sphinxes,  and  a  family-portrait 
frieze  displaying  Gonzaga  princes,  princesses,  monks,  etc. 
Then,  through  a  little  oratory  constructed  under  the  Em- 
pire, I  traversed  the  long  front  gallery,  which  was  for  a 
couple  of  centuries  past  divided  into  small  rooms.  Directly 
above  all  this,  as  I  found  on  again  mounting  the  stairs,  the 
second  floor  of  the  southern  palace  was  entirely  devoted,  from 
earliest  days,  to  a  single  spacious  hall  called  the  Armoria, 
because  in  it  the  Gonzaghi  kept  their  famous  collection  of 
armour  and  weapons, —  that  collection  which  was  the  hobby 
of  Isabella's  husband,  and  which  has  since  been  scattered  far 
and  wide.  This  hall,  68  metres  by  15,  was  the  place  where 
Pope  Pius  II  in  1459  held  his  great  Council  to  inaugurate 
a  crusade  against  the  Turks  (which  was  soon  after  cut  short 

12  Socalled  from  the  Duchess  Anna  Isabella  of  Guastalla,  spouse 
of  the  last  duke,  who  dwelt  here. 


472  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

by  his  death)  ;  and  we  see  it  represented  in  Pinturrichio's 
portrayal  of  that  gathering  in  the  library  of  the  Cathedral 
of  Siena,  amongst  his  magnificent  series  of  frescoes  upon  the 
life  of  Pius  II."  Of  all  the  famed  decorations  with  which 
the  salon  was  then  resplendent,  naught  now  remains;  but  a 
single  frescoed  fragment  of  the  later  decorations  of  Vincenzo 
I  lingers  on  the  northern  wall, —  the  arms  of  the  knightly 
Order  of  the  Redeemer  which  he  instituted,  upheld  by  genii, 
and  flanked  by  two  noble  warriors. 

Returning  to  the  piano  nobile,  we  next  traversed  the  Ap- 
partamento  dell'  Imperatrice,  consisting  of  four  chambers 
running  across  the  front  of  the  northern  palace,  and  several 
smaller  rooms  in  rear ;  they  were  redecorated  under  the  Aus- 
trians  for  the  accommodation  of  their  Empress,  and  are 
still  adorned  with  some  of  the  hangings  and  furniture  of  Em- 
pire style  remaining  from  Prince  Eugene's  occupation. 
Amongst  them  I  saw  the  four-posted,  gold  and  white  bed  in 
which  his  Princess  gave  birth  to  her  child  in  March,  1814. 
Surmounting  its  gilded  dome  were  a  cherub  and  the  Na- 
poleonic eagle ;  its  frieze  consisted  of  beautiful  gilt  reliefs, 
and  it  was  yet  shrouded  in  its  exquisite  blue  silk  curtains. 
At  the  end  we  entered  the  large  hall  of  the  Refettorio,  or 
Sala  del  Fiumi,  extending  from  the  facade  far  back,  along 

13  "  Hill-Towns  of  Italy,"  pp.  278-80. — "  It  was  through  Barbara's 
(Lodovico  II's  wife)  suggestion  to  her  uncle,  the  Margrave  Al- 
bert of  Brandenburg,  that  the  Pope  was  induced  to  summon  the 
meeting  at  Mantua.  Princes  and  ambassadors  arrived  from  all 
parts  of  Italy  and  Germany.  Pius  II  and  his  cardinals,  Francesco 
Sforza,  Duke  of  Milan,  Albert  of  Brandenburg,  and  Duke  Sigismund 
of  Austria,  were  among  the  guests  who  were  entertained  in  the 
Castello."  (Julia  Cartwright.) — What  a  picture  must  that  gather- 
ing have  presented  in  the  grand  old  frescoed  hall, —  with  all  its 
pomp  of  prelates  and  princes,  all  its  glory  of  arms  and  banners, 
and  gay-hued  silken  vestments! 


MANTUA  THE  MAGNIFICENT  473 

the  southern  side  of  the  hanging  garden ;  its  vaulted  ceiling 
and  walls  were  all  painted  in  an  extraordinary  manner,  simu- 
lating an  immense  vine-spread  arbour,  with  grottoes  at  the 
ends  in  niches  of  artificial  rocks,  and  the  six  river-gods  of 
Mantuan  territory  frescoed  in  openings  at  the  sides.  The 
last  were  a  work  of  Giorgio  Anselmi,  in  1775;  about  which 
time  the  whole  scheme  was  executed.  In  the  centre  of  the 
vaulting  were  seen  various  divinities  and  the  Hours,  before  a 
temple ;  and  in  the  southern  wall  opened  a  handsome  marble 
doorway,  finely  wrought,  topped  by  a  good  bust  of  a  Moor. 
Another  ornament  was  a  rich  mosaic  table  of  coloured  mar- 
bles,  porphyry,  jasper,   verde  antique,  etc. 

The  adjacent  hanging  garden,  called  the  Nuovo  Giardino 
Pensile,  proved  to  be  a  large  square  plot,  whose  shrubs,  flow- 
erbeds and  nespoli  trees  were  still  kept  in  fair  condition ; 
pleasing  colonnades  of  coupled  marble  shafts  enclosed  it  upon 
three  sides,  and  in  the  middle  of  the  northern  side  rose  a 
pretty  octagonal  tempietto,  a  sort  of  summer-house,  with  a 
basement  of  precious  marbles  and  a  double  dome  of  terra- 
cotta work.  The  corridors  were  lavishly  frescoed  with  de- 
signs and  arabesques,  on  walls  and  vaulting, —  retouched  in 
1773.  At  the  northeastern  corner  a  winding  staircase  de- 
scended to  the  contiguous  arcade  of  the  Piazza  del  Castello, 
forming  in  Gonzaga  days  a  convenient  access  to  the  castle. 
Upon  the  eastern  side  opened  an  extension  of  the  greenery, — 
the  small  octagonal  Giardino  degli  Orsi,  shaped  like  a  well, 
whose  name  indicates  that  it  was  once  used  as  a  bear-pit. 
This  whole  charming  cloister  was  constructed  by  Bertani 
under  Duke  Guglielmo. 

From  the  eastern  end  of  the  Refettorio  we  stepped  into  the 
northernmost  of  the  series  of  six  rooms  running  across  the 
rear  of  the  Buonacolsi  palace,  and  looking  upon  the  Cortile 
d'Onore:  this  was  the  Sala  dello  Zodiaco,  a  square  chamber 


474  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

whose  vaulting  was  painted  by  Lor.  Costa  junior,  about  1580, 
with  the  twelve  figures  of  the  Zodiac  in  brown  upon  a  dark 
blue  sky, —  the  constellations  being  marked  upon  them  with 
gilt  stars.  Over  the  midnight  heaven  presides  Diana  in  her 
chariot.  The  work  was  poorly  restored  about  1750.  Above 
the  doorways  I  noticed  four  rectangular  panels  of  stucco  re- 
liefs painted  a  bronze  hue,  inserted  about  the  same  time  in  the 
place  of  Costa's  damaged  frieze;  they  represented  mytho- 
logical personages  and  scenes.  Also  of  the  Empire  were  the 
several  panels  of  gilded  stucco  arabesques  running  up  each 
wall. 

The  following  four  rooms  constitute  an  apartment  known 
as  the  Verde,  or  dell'Imperatore,  or  degli  Arazzi;  the  last 
name  coming  from  the  famous  cinquecento  tapestries  depict- 
ing the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  after  Raphael's  cartoons,  which 
belonged  to  S.  Barbara  until  about  1783,  when  they  were 
removed  here  to  aid  in  the  scheme  of  redecoration ;  in  1866 
they  were  removed  again,  to  Austria,  and  now  adorn  the 
private  apartments  of  Emperor  Francis  Joseph  at  Schoen- 
brunn.  Their  places  are  partly  taken  now  by  painted  imi- 
tations of  arras,  fairly  well  done  by  Felice  Campi  of  Mantua, 
upon  canvas,  portraying  various  scenes  from  the  Sacred 
Story ;  —  such  as  the  Nativity  and  the  Presentation,  in  the 
2nd  room,  the  Transfiguration  (after  Raphael)  in  the  3d, 
and  the  Massacre  of  the  Innocents,  in  the  4th.  All  the  ceil- 
ings are  handsomely  coffered  in  wood,  with  variously  shaped 
panels,  painted  in  with  designs  on  white;  and  above  all  the 
doors  are  delightful  stucco  reliefs,  uncoloured.  The  first 
chamber  is  further  interesting  for  a  small,  low  bed,  canopied 
with  green  silk  falling  from  a  gilded  dome,  which  was  used 
by  Napoleon  during  his  campaign  of  1796,  and  again  as  Em- 
peror, in  1805;  in  the  mosaic  floor  one  sees  a  large  wreath 
which  held  formerly  a  bronze  imperial  crown,  and  in  the 


MANTUA  THE  MAGNIFICENT  475 

lunettes   of  the  walls,   two   excellent   frescoes  of   the  later 
Renaissance,  depicting  Roman  sacrifices. 

The  last  chamber  of  the  six  in  this  row  is  the  Sala  dei 
Papi,  adjoining  on  the  east  the  Sala  dei  Duchi  where  I 
started :  like  it,  a  bare,  white  room,  adorned  formerly  with  a 
frieze  displaying  portraits  of  the  Popes,  which  now  has  van- 
ished. From  it  I  turned  to  the  left  into  a  long  gallery  of 
the  Corte  Vecchio,  extending  along  the  southern  side  of  the 
Court  of  Honour, —  the  modern  Pinacoteca.  Its  walls  were 
covered  with  paintings  collected  from  the  suppressed  convents 
and  dismantled  churches,  and  brought  from  the  other  parts  of 
the  Regg'ia, —  mostly  of  little  worth,  because  the  best  were 
seized  for  the  Brera  gallery  of  Milan.  By  Palma  Giovane 
were  four  large  canvases  depicting  the  Four  Ages  of  the 
world;  and,  said  to  be  by  one  of  the  Costa  (although  a  copy 
of  Giulio's  fresco  in  the  Te)  was  a  pretty  Psyche  awakening 
Cupid.  Those  of  most  worth,  however,  were  by  unknown 
hands:  the  fine  group  of  Sts.  Paul,  John  and  Sebastian,  sur- 
mounted by  a  charming  angel ;  the  two  bishops  from  a  wooden 
ancona  of  the  trecento;  the  excellent  panel  of  the  Madonna 
enthroned  between  Sts.  Vincenzo,  Giovanni  Battista  and  oth- 
ers,—  which  formerly  served  as  the  high-altar-piece  in  the 
church  of  S.  Vincenzo;  the  large  canvas  of  Perseus  carrying 
the  Medusa's  head ;  and,  finally,  the  excellent  Ascension  hung 
just  above  the  Psyche. 

Eight  marbles  also  adorned  the  gallery, —  six  indifferent 
statues  of  mythological  divinities  between  the  windows  on 
the  left,  and  two  interesting  busts  in  the  right-hand  corners ; 
the  first  was  by  Bernini,  a  remarkably  fine  work,  portraying 
the  handsome  Duchessa  Maria  Gonzaga,  in  the  monastic 
veil  which  she  assumed  in  1643;  and  the  second  was  by  his 
noted  pupil,  Lor.  Ottone, —  showing  an  older  princess,  with 
a  formidable  nose  and  fiery  eye,  evidently  a  speaking  like- 


476  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

ness  of  the  unknown  original.  The  rooms  upon  the  right 
of  the  gallery,  exactly  over  the  Grotta  of  Isabella  below,  con- 
stituted formerly  the  Appartamento  dell ' Alcova,  of  whose 
beauty  naught  now  remains ;  but  recently  they  have  been  used 
for  an  attempted  reconstruction  (begun  and  never  finished) 
of  the  decorations  saved  from  the  wreck  of  the  Palazzina, — 
the  beautiful  woodwork,  frescoes,  and  stucchi  that  were  the 
cause  of  the  fame  of  its  Gabinetto  delta  Paleologa,  which 
Duke  Federigo  II  constructed  for  his  bride  under  Giulio's 
designing. 

From  the  end  of  the  gallery  we  stepped  into  the  enormous, 
square  Sala  degli  Arcieri,  at  the  southeast  corner  of  the  Corte 
Vecchio, —  the  first  hall  of  the  renowned  Appartamento 
Ducale,  stretching  across  its  eastern  side  and  looking  upon 
the  Piazza  Paradiso.  Duke  Guglielmo  began  the  decoration 
of  this  suite,  and  Viani  completed  it  for  Vincenzo  I.  The 
Hall  of  the  Archers  received  its  name  from  the  ducal  body- 
guard of  archers  here  stationed.  Its  walls  are  now  frescoed 
in  grisaille  with  an  architectural  scheme  of  the  time  of  the 
Empire;  22  huge  consoles  extend  around  the  cornice,  upheld 
by  female  busts;  but  the  lofty,  vaulted  ceiling  is  ruined, — 
removed  but  for  the  skeleton  of  its  ribs,  because  it  threatened 
to  fall  to  pieces.  In  the  northern  wall  open  two  doors, — 
the  second  leading  to  the  remaining  rooms  of  the  ducal  apart- 
ment, the  first  leading  to  the  spacious  Sala  degli  Specchi, 
extending  northward  along  the  eastern  side  of  the  Court  of 
Honour.  The  latter,  by  the  way,  is  a  large  grass-grown 
square,  with  a  dainty  marble  tempietto  in  its  centre,  which 
was  transferred  from  the  ruined  church  of  S.  Sebastiano; 
in  Gonzaga  days  the  close  was  kept  up  as  a  private  garden. 

Entering  the  Sala  degli  Specchi  (Hall  of  the  Mirrors)  I 
was  greeted  by  a  great  surprise:  for  here  was  a  magnificent 
ballroom  still  radiant  in  all  its  original  beauties,  of  painting 


MANTUA  THE  MAGNIFICENT  477 

and  gilded  stucco,  still  fresh  and  smiling,  hung  with  a  dozen 
sparkling,  cut-glass  chandeliers,  and  with  its  numerous  white 
seats  for  the  spectators  of  the  dancing  still  placed  around  its 
brilliant  walls,  upon  the  glassy  mosaic  floor;  all  looking,  in 
fact,  as  if  Duke  Vincenzo  might  have  given  a  ball  here  only 
the  night  before.  The  long  vaulting  was  lavishly  covered, 
from  end  to  end,  and  cornice  to  cornice,  by  a  vast  assemblage 
of  frescoes  still  of  refulgent  colour;  they  were  done  about 
1580  by  Lor.  Costa,  junior,  Ruboni  and  Andreasi,  but  were  of 
course  retouched  in  Austrian  days.  Down  the  centre  ex- 
tended three  immense  panels,  successively, —  Apollo  driving 
his  chariot  of  the  sun,  the  gods  in  Olympus,  and  Diana  in 
her  chariot  of  the  night;  the  best  of  which  was  the  Apollo, 
whose  four  splendid  white  horses  gallop  over  the  rolling  clouds 
with  a  beauty  and  a  naturalness  of  motion  quite  exceptional. 
Costa  is  generally  believed  to  have  been  its  author,  though 
some  critics  now  impute  it  to  Sebastiano  del  Vino.  The 
figure  of  the  goddess  Venus  is  also  much  admired. 

The  two  large  lunettes  at  the  gallery's  ends  are  filled  with 
immense  tableaux  of  Apollo  in  Parnassus,  wooed  by  the  nine 
Muses,  and  an  assemblage  of  divinities  representing  the  arts 
and  sciences;  under  the  former  are  portraits  of  Virgil,  Sor- 
dello,  Castiglione,  Spagnuoli,  and  other  Mantuans  who  dis- 
tinguished themselves  in  letters.  The  seven  lunettes  above 
the  cornice  on  the  west  side  are  decorated  with  mythological 
personages, —  those  on  the  east  wall  representing  the  car- 
dinal virtues;  the  triangular  spaces  above  them,  on  the  first 
curve  of  the  vaulting,  are  filled  with  fanciful  designs ;  and  the 
spandrels  between  them,  curving  likewise  forward,  contain 
separate  divinities  in  grisaille.  The  frieze  in  grisaille  is  es- 
pecially pleasing,  consisting  of  gambolling  putti  connected  by 
garlands,  on  a  golden  ground.  The  walls,  originally  cov- 
ered with  yellow  damask,   are   now   adorned  with  mirrors 


478  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

framed  between  panels  of  foliated  reliefs  in  gilded  stucco, 
°f  1 779,  and  separated  by  handsome  corinthian  pilasters  with 
gilded  caps.  On  the  end  walls  stand  four  lifesize  painted 
figures,  both  realistic  and  graceful,  said  to  represent  the  four 
elements;  the  one  portraying  Water  —  or,  as  some  say,  Inno- 
cence —  is  of  special  merit. 

The  door  in  the  end  of  this  splendid  hall  opens  into  the 
long,  narrow  Corridoio  dei  Mori,  extending  along  the  north- 
ern side  of  the  Court  of  Honour,  to  the  Sala  dello  Zodiaco. 
Its  lavish  decorations  of  the  later  cinquecento  consist  of  ara- 
besques, putti,  and  other  figures  and  designs,  both  in  fresco 
and  stucco,  covering  the  upper  parts  of  the  walls  and  the 
vaulting.  From  it  two  doorways  open  to  the  north:  one 
opposite  the  Sala  degli  Specchi,  admitting  to  a  stairway 
which  descends  to  the  great  corridor  leading  to  the  Castello; 
the  other,  near  the  western  end,  admitting  one  to  a  suite  of 
thre,e  rooms  there  located,  adjacent  to  the  Sala  dello  Zodiaco. 
The  middle  one  of  these  rooms  is  the  Saletta  dei  Mori,  which 
gave  the  corridor  its  name ;  I  found  it  a  small,  square  cham- 
ber looking  north  over  the  Giardino  degli  Orsi,  whose  frieze, 
cornice  and  flat  ceiling  were  one  mass  of  the  most  beautiful 
gilded,  open-work  wood-carving,  of  the  richest  and  most 
graceful  foliated  designs.  Nothing  more  splendid  for  its 
size  could  be  conceived,  and  nothing  more  significant  of  the 
quondam  glories  of  the  Reggia.  It  was  done  in  the  seicento, 
by  unknown  hands.  At  intervals  through  the  foliage  of  the 
frieze  appear  the  small  half-figures  of  negroes,  and  negro 
faces  are  scattered  through  that  of  the  ceiling.  The  centre 
of  the  ceiling  is  an  exquisite  large  medallion,  painted  in  oil 
with  the  nude  figure  of  Venus  escorted  by  divers  cherubs, 
flying  in  a  sky  of  fleecy  clouds, —  the  putti  charming,  and  the 
goddess  a  voluptuous  form  of  considerable  loveliness. —  The 
room  on  the  east  of  this  is  also  distinguished  by  its  ceiling, 


MANTUA  THE  MAGNIFICENT  479 

of  the  same  period,  finely  frescoed  with  raphaelesques  and 
amorini. 

Returning  to  the  Sala  degli  Arcieri,  we  now  traversed 
the  eight  chambers  of  the  Appartamenti  Ducali, —  three  large 
and  square,  looking  east  upon  Piazza  Paradiso,  and  five 
smaller  ones  at  their  end,  running  to  the  east  in  the  Paradiso 
building.  The  three  large  chambers  were  remarkable  for 
their  magnificent  wooden  ceilings:  the  first  and  third  were 
superbly  coffered  in  oak,  with  delicate,  foliated,  gilt  reliefs 
upon  the  beams  and  their  rounded  intersections,  and  with  the 
white  grounds  of  the  panels  decorated  by  handsome  gilt  foli- 
ations; the  second  was  an  intagliated  labyrinth,  of  gilded 
ridges  and  blue  lanes,  the  latter  all  engraved  with  the  motto 
of  Isabella,  "  Forse  che  si,  forse  che  no,"  14 — which  was  here 
most  appropriate.  The  first  room  contained  also  four  paint- 
ings by  Pietro  Menghi,  depicting  the  story  of  Judith,  placed 
as  a  frieze  between  richly  carved  cornices  painted  blue  and 
gold,  with  repeated  emblems  of  the  Gonzaga  sun. 

Of  the  following  smaller  rooms,  the  first  four  looked 
northward  over  the  forecourt,  or  Piazza,  of  S.  Barbara,  and 
the  fifth  southward  into  Piazza  Paradiso.  I  entered  first 
a  little  bathroom  with  a  pretty  diamond-coffered  ceiling  of 
gilded  stucco;  a  similar  ceiling  succeeded,  with  its  panels 
daintily  adorned  by  gold  reliefs  on  a  blue  field ;  and  a  third, 
covering  a  charming  little  toilet-room,  was  of  beautifully 
carved  and  gilded  wood.  Otherwise  these  camerini  were  des- 
titute. From  the  last  one  on  the  north  side,  a  rising  stairway 
of  13  steps  of  red  marble  led  me,  still  eastward,  to  the  ante- 
rooms of  the  Paradiso  itself.     The  vaulting  of  this  staircase 

14  "  Perhaps  yes,  perhaps  no." — This  labyrinth  is  said  to  be  a 
memorial  of  the  safe  issue  of  Vincenzo  I  from  the  siege  of  Turk- 
ish Canissa,  in  1601,  where  he  successfully  brought  out  his  command 
from  a  maze  of  disorder  and  dangers. 


480  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

gave  the  first  hint  of  the  beauties  to  follow:  its  different  bays, 
diversified  in  form,  were  profusely  decorated  with  coloured 
stucchi  and  frescoed  raphaelesques,  of  a  most  delicate  charac- 
ter. The  doorway  at  the  top  was  once  a  fine  piece  of  cinque- 
cento  work,  painted  with  oriental  designs,  but  is  now  prac- 
tically ruined.  I  thought  with  some  emotion,  as  I  mounted, 
of  all  that  throng  of  the  great  men  of  the  Renaissance  — 
artists,  poets,  musicians,  connoisseurs  —  who  treaded  these 
same  steps  to  reach  the  secluded  shrine  of  their  adored  high- 
priestess. 

The  two  anterooms,  looking  northward  to  S.  Barbara,  are 
now  called  the  Stanze  delle  Citta,  from  the  views  of  notable 
cities  with  which  they  were  adorned  when  Vincenzo  I  had 
them  reconstructed;  before  which  time,  it  is  believed,  their 
place  was  occupied  by  the  vanished  Loggia  delle  Citta  which 
Isabella  made.  The  city  views,  I  found,  were  frescoed  in  the 
lunettes  around  both  rooms,  where  they  were  not  long  ago 
recovered  from  whitewash;  they  supposedly  represent  such 
places  as  Rome,  Jerusalem,  Algiers,  Toledo,  London,  Constan- 
tinople, etc.  On  the  spandrels  between  them  were  painted 
various  Gonzaga  emblems  and  devices,  and  certain  of  those 
of  the  Medici, —  for  the  sake  of  Vincenzo's  wife,  Eleonora 
dei  Medici.  The  ceilings  were  decorated  with  delicate 
stucco-work,  and  unimportant  paintings  empanelled  in  the 
centre.  The  rooms  were  small  and  low,  and  —  as  I  observed 
from  the  windows  —  located  upon  the  third  story.  Beyond 
them,  in  the  very  northeastern  corner  of  the  building  (the 
"  Casa  Nuova "  of  Lodovico's  time)  appeared  the  square 
Stanza  dei  Quattro  Elementi, —  so  called  from  its  four  anony- 
mous, ill-painted  representations  of  the  elements  upon  the 
ceiling,  of  the  17th  or  18th  century.  The  framework  of 
these,  however,  was  adorned  with  charming  stucchi  and  ara- 
besques of  the  cinquecento;  and  especially  noteworthy  here 


MANTUA  THE  MAGNIFICENT  481 

were  the  festoons  of  fruit  bound  to  hideous  masks  by 
ribbons. 

The  doorway  at  the  right  conducted  me  to  the  first  of  the 
three  rooms  of  the  Paradiso  proper,  extending  southward 
along  the  building's  eastern  wing,  with  windows  opening 
upon  each  side:  those  on  the  right  looked  into  Piazza  Para- 
diso; from  those  on  the  left  I  gazed  eastward  at  that  view 
which  so  delighted  Isabella,  and  originated  the  apartment's 
name.  Directly  below  lay  the  spacious,  square  Giardino  del 
Padiglione,  framed  by  other  buildings  on  either  hand  and  a 
stately  colonnade  at  the  farther  end;  the  first  of  the  stables 
extending  on  the  right,  the  low  Appartamenti  Stivali  extend- 
ing along  the  left, —  over  which  appeared  the  grand  arcades 
of  the  Cavallerizza.  Beyond  stretched  afar  the  peaceful 
waters  of  the  lake,  embosomed  in  its  emerald  banks  cov- 
ered luxuriantly  with  copses  of  trees;  the  long  Ponte  S. 
Giorgio  crossing  on  the  left  to  its  terminal  guard-tower,  and 
the  Lago  di  Mezzo  curving  away  to  the  north.  It  was  easy 
to  see  how  much  the  rural,  restful  beauty  of  this  scene  ap- 
pealed to  the  Marchesa's  court-harassed  mind. 

So  small  were  the  rooms,  that  but  a  single,  ordinary-sized 
window  looked  lakeward  from  each.  The  first  two  of  them 
were  Isabella's  own  sanctuary,  which  she  decorated  herself, — 
the  real  Gabinetti  del  Paradiso;  all  of  them  preserved  their 
original,  exquisite,  wooden  ceilings,  supported  on  consoles, 
or  deprived  of  angles  in  the  Empire  style  and  curving 
forward  from  the  cornice  to  the  central,  rectangular  panel. 
That  of  the  primary  chamber,  the  "  Camera  di  Musica,"  was 
especially  tasteful  and  characteristic :  the  broad  concave  frieze 
uniting  cornice  to  panel  was  relieved  with  an  infinitude  of 
minute  foliations,  amongst  which  appeared  at  regular  inter- 
vals shallow,  rectangular  coffers,  engraved  with  other  de- 
signs and  certain  of  Isabella's  mottoes  and  devices.     These 


482  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

emblems,  which  she  spent  so  much  pains  and  learning  in 
adopting,  and  spread  through  all  the  apartments  occupied  by 
her,  are  of  much  historical  interest,  connected  with  the  vicis- 
situdes of  her  eventful  life  that  gave  rise  to  them,  one  by  one. 
Here  were  her  famous  "  Nee  spe,  nee  metu,"  the  Roman 
numeral  XXVII,  the  liturgic  candelabrum  of  Holy  Week, 
the  monogram  of  the  three  letters  U.  T.  S.,  the  bunch  of 
twigs  bound  with  a  ribbon,  the  Alpha  and  Omega,  the  open 
pack  of  playing  cards,  the  monogram  YS,  etc.  All  have 
their  historical  significance:  the  XXVII,  for  instance,  indi- 
cates "  vinte  le  sette" —  that  the  Marchesa  had  "  conquered 
the  factions,"  and  emerged  triumphant  over  all  foes.  A  full 
volume  or  two  could  be  written  on  their  derivations  and 
meaning ;  as  the  learned  Equicola  did  in  his  treatise  upon  the 
"  Nee  spe,  nee  metu." 

The  large  central  panel  of  this  first  ceiling  is  tessellated 
by  ribbon-like  bands,  with  pendant  rosettes  at  their  intersec- 
tions, and  each  square  is  carved  with  a  different  maze  of 
foliated  reliefs;  the  middle  one  is  engraved  with  the  words, 
"  Isabella  —  Esten  —  Mar. —  M."  (Isabella  Estense,  Mar- 
chioness of  Mantua.)  The  beauty  and  richness  of  it  is  in- 
creased by  the  gilding  of  all  the  relief-work,  and  the  blue 
colour  of  its  ground.  The  oak  wainscoting  of  the  room, 
fully  six  feet  high,  is  another  remarkable  relic,  though  greatly 
damaged  by  the  low  class  of  tenants  during  the  Austrian  re- 
gime: it  contains  a  series  of  panels  nearly  3  feet  square,  which 
were  filled  with  fine  tarsia  by  Antonio  and  Paolo  della  Mola. 
A  half  dozen  still  remain,  probably  not  in  their  original 
places, —  three  of  them  representing  fantastic  paysages,  the 
other  three,  musical  instruments  of  various  kinds;  they  con- 
ceal cupboards  used  by  Isabella  for  keeping  her  own  instru- 
ments. Above  the  wainscoting,  in  the  space  about  three  feet 
wide  beneath  the  cornice,  once  occupied  by  her  glorious  can- 


MANTUA  THE  MAGNIFICENT  483 

vases  of  Mantegna  and  other  great  masters,  extend  now  a 
series  of  unimportant  and  dilapidated  later  paintings.  The 
mosaic  pavement  of  her  time  has  also  given  way  to  an  ordinary 
tiled  floor. 

But  the  most  brilliant  feature  here,  which  strikes  the  eye 
first  upon  entering,  is  the  splendid  doorway  to  the  following 
room,  which  Gian  Cristoforo  Romano  sculptured  for  the 
Grotta,  and  Isabella  removed  here  after  1520.  (He  came  to 
Mantua  in  1497,  fresh  from  his  wonderful  work  upon  the 
Certosa,  and  served  the  Marchesa  for  a  number  of  years.) 
It  is  a  rectangular  portal  with  a  classic  cornice,  about  8 
feet  high,  the  side-posts  and  lintel  inset  with  regularly  spaced 
panels  of  porphyry  and  coloured  marbles;  between  these,  on 
each  post,  were  inserted  three  most  exquisite  medallions  of 
bronze  and  Carrara  marble.  The  four  marble  ones  still  re- 
main, though  in  bad  condition:  each  is  carved  with  a  single 
beautiful  figure, —  Apollo  with  his  lyre,  the  armed  Minerva, 
and  a  couple  of  the  Muses.  Six  smaller  medallions  adorn 
the  inside  of  the  jambs,  depicting  a  monkey,  a  peacock,  differ- 
ent birds,  etc.  Injured  as  it  is,  this  doorway  is  a  worthy 
monument  to  that  great  sculptor.  The  subjects  of  its  re- 
liefs, one  notices,  chimed  exactly  with  the  former  mythological 
paintings  stretching  roundabout  the  Grotta,  all  executed  in 
accordance  with  the  scheme  of  Isabella. 

Traversing  it  to  the  second  room,  I  saw  a  refulgent,  all- 
gilt  ceiling  supported  on  consoles,  coffered  with  alternate 
circles  and  octagons,  over  every  inch  of  whose  surface  ran 
the  same  wealth  of  minute  relieved  tracery.  The  original 
paintings  that  extended  below  it  were  gone,  but  their  lovely 
framework  remained, —  charming  gilded  columns,  reaching 
from  the  top  cornice  to  that  of  the  wainscoting,  cut  with  de- 
lightful, delicate  reliefs  of  putti,  nymphs,  and  arabesque  pat- 
terns.    The  modern  canvases  now  inserted  are  used  to  con- 


484  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

ceal  the  gaping  cupboards  behind.  The  panels  below  were 
filled  once  with  handsome  pieces  of  arras,  long  vanished. 
Both  the  fine  doorways  are  of  Carrara  marble,  inlaid  with 
bits  of  porphyry  and  serpentine,  that  on  the  south  being 
probably  a  work  of  Tullio  Lombardo,  about  1523.  Above 
it  is  an  inscription, — "  Carolus  Primus  —  Dux,"  etc. —  show- 
ing that  the  decorations  were  renewed  by  Charles  de  Nevers, 
about  1630-37. 

The  ceiling  of  the  third  cabinet  is  coffered  in  hexagons, 
supported  on  consoles,  and  entirely  gilded.  Here  I  saw  four 
long  fragments  of  the  frieze  of  Lor.  Costa,  painted  on  can- 
vas, that  formerly  adorned  the  Hall  of  the  Zodiac;  they  de- 
picted amorini,  dogs,  and  arabesques,  in  a  curious  but  well- 
executed  manner.  Here  also  were  more  of  Isabella's  de- 
vices,—  including  the  famous  musical  notes  of  the  Estensi, 
and  her  name  and  title, —  painted  on  the  middle  panels  of 
the  ceiling.  There  followed  a  chamber  not  belonging  to  the 
Paradiso,  called  simply  lo  Stazone:  it  had  an  exceptionally 
fine  vaulting  of  the  17th  century,  of  pine  and  black  walnut 
decorations  intermixed, —  probably  a  relic  of  the  period  of 
Charles  de  Nevers.  The  light  and  dark  variations  in  shade 
of  the  rich  traceries  and  foliations,  were  most  effective.  Be- 
yond this  the  wing  contained  half  a  dozen  more  rooms,  but 
they  were  entirely  bare  and  dismantled. 

All  of  these  doubtless  belonged  to  Isabella's  suite,  for  she 
had  17  rooms  together  in  this  portion  of  the  palace;  but  it 
was  the  three  rooms  of  the  Paradiso  that  she  loved,  and  spent 
her  declining  years  in.  The  Grotta,  with  its  wonderful 
art-collections,  was  her  public  drawing-room,  where  she  re- 
ceived ambassadors  and  strangers  of  distinction ;  the  Paradiso 
was  her  private  nest,  where  she  retired  to  rest  among  her 
intimate  friends,  surrounded  by  her  most  beloved  books, 
musical  instruments,  and  treasures.     "  The  first  room  was 


MANTUA  THE  MAGNIFICENT  485 

dedicated  to  music. —  The  cupboards  were  filled  with  instru- 
ments: mandolins,  lutes,  citherns,  inlaid  with  mother-of- 
pearl,  and  made  especially  for  her  by  Lorenzo  of  Pavia;  here 
stood  the  famous  organ  by  the  same  master. —  Round  the 
walls  were  views  of  towns  in  intarsia  of  rare  woods, —  and 
along  the  cornices  friezes  were  formed  of  musical  instruments 
carved  in  the  wood.  In  the  second  room,  devoted  to  paint- 
ing and  also  to  study,  six  masterpieces  by  the  greatest  painters 
of  the  time  adorned  the  walls.  The  third  room  was  reserved 
for  receptions. —  In  the  recess  of  the  thick  wall  Isabella  placed 
her  writing-table,  within  reach  of  the  shelves  containing  her 
favourite  books;  while  she  wrote  those  letters  addressed  to 
the  poets  and  artists  of  Italy,  overflowing  with  enthusiasm 
for  art  and  letters."  15  We  must  realise  her  also  surrounded 
by  a  quantity  of  her  favourite  art-treasures, —  her  "  antique 
bronzes,  figures  of  alabaster  and  jasper,  cabinets  of  porphyry 
and  lapislazuli,  Murano  glass  of  delicate  tints  and  rare  work- 
manship, precious  vases  —  and  crystal  mirrors  set  in  rubies, 
diamonds  and  pearls."  Amongst  these  and  other  treasures, 
of  letters  and  the  arts,  she  talked  with  her  famous  friends 
as  only  a  woman  of  the  Renaissance  could  talk,  when  "  all 
virtues,  all  crimes,  all  forces  were  set  in  motion  by  a  feverish 
yearning  for  immaterial  pleasures,  beauty,  power,  and  im- 
mortality," 16  and  conversation  was  in  itself  an  art,  and  the 
highest  of  the  graces. 

The  visitor  to  the  Reggia  must  next  proceed  to  the  palace 
of  S.  Sebastiano,  which  is  reached  by  the  covered  corridor 
before  mentioned.  This  corridor  one  enters  by  the  steps  from 
the  Corridoio  dei  Mori ;  and  a  short  walk  brings  him,  past  the 
church  on  the  right,  to  the  head  of  Giulio's  marble  stair- 
case from  the  Castello,  whose  heavy,  rich  coffering  is  painted 

15  Charles  Yriarte    (Supra). 

16  Gregorovius's  "  Lucretia  Borgia." 


486  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

within  the  panels  in  imitation  of  tarsia.  Here  a  door  on  the 
right  admits  one  directly  to  the  rearmost  hall  of  S.  Sehastiano, 
—  the  magnificent  Sala  di  Manto.  These  Appartarnenti  di 
Troia  were  constructed  by  Gianfrancesco  III  and  Federigo 
II  between  i486  and  1540,  with  the  aid  of  Mantegna,  Giulio, 
Primaticcio,  Leonbruno,  Rinaldo  Mantovani,  Fermo  Gui- 
soni,  and  a  number  of  Giulio's  other  pupils.  Here  were  then 
located  the  head-offices  of  the  state  departments  and  the  Coun- 
cil of  Ministers,  besides  the  public  chambers  of  the  Duke. 

The  Sala  di  Manto,  so-called  from  its  practically  vanished 
frescoes  which  depicted  the  story  of  the  sorceress,  was  the 
ducal  throne-room,  for  the  giving  of  formal  audiences:  a  su- 
perbly proportioned  hall,  fully  the  size  of  the  Sala  degli  Spec- 
chi  (about  80x33  feet),  and  far  loftier  and  more  imposing. 
Even  in  its  ruined  state  it  is  impressive.  Around  the  walls 
at  mid-height  —  but  still  some  twenty  feet  or  more  above  the 
pavement  —  runs  a  beautiful  stucco  cornice,  with  a  delightful 
frieze  of  relieved  arabesques,  from  which  pilasters  rise  to  the 
top  cornice,  richly  decorated  with  reliefs;  between  the  latter 
are  large  panels  for  the  destroyed  frescoes  and  small  panels 
for  the  windows,  under  and  over  which  extends  more  charm- 
ing relievo.  The  unapproachable  beauty  of  the  stucco-work 
through  all  these  apartments  may  be  realised,  when  we  reflect 
that  it  was  designed,  and  mostly  moulded,  by  the  great  Pri- 
maticcio himself;  it  is  ruinous,  but  still  unequalled.  The 
wooden  ceiling  here  is  very  grandly  coffered,  but  most  of  its 
long  pendant  rosettes  are  vanished, —  beaten  down  to  serve 
as  fuel  by  the  barbaric  Austrian  soldiers,  who  were  quartered 
in  this  palace  during  150  years.  The  thought  of  such  wan- 
ton demolition  of  irreplaceable  treasures  is  maddening.  But 
one  can  picture  the  hall  as  it  formerly  shone,  with  its  "  pro- 
fusion of  statues,  busts,  gilt  furniture,  crystals,  arms,  candel- 
abra  and    damask   hangings," —  a   glorious   setting   for   the 


MANTUA  THE  MAGNIFICENT  487 

solemn  receptions  of  foreign  ambassadors,  and  of  the  nobility 
and  clergy  of  the  realm. 

Succeeding  on  the  east  came  the  grand  Sala  di  Giuramento , 
or  dei  Capitani:  the  former  name  derived  from  one  of  the 
four  huge  paintings  that  covered  the  upper  walls,  representing 
Luigi  Gonzaga  receiving  the  people's  oath  of  fidelity  on  Aug. 
26,  1328  (restored  in  1873), —  the  latter  name  derived 
from  the  four  busts  of  the  chief  Gonzaga  captains  surmount- 
ing the  string-course.  These  busts  were  posed  over  the  four 
doorways,  near  the  angles,  flanked  by  lifesize  male  figures 
seated  guardingly  beside  them,  with  pendant  limbs, —  a 
unique  and  most  effective  design.  All  were  of  v/hite  stucco. 
The  other  three  paintings,  now  destroyed,  doubtless  repre- 
sented other  important  events  in  Gonzaga  annals.  The  splen- 
did wooden  roof  was  in  good  condition,  the  beams  that  made 
its  deep,  broad  coffering  being  gilded  on  the  edges  and  painted 
with  handsome  arabesques,  while  the  heavy  gilt  pendants  re- 
mained intact. 

The  third  chamber,  in  the  northeast  corner  of  the  building, 
was  the  magnificent  Sala  dei  Marchesi:  so-called  from  the 
eight  busts  of  Gonzaga  princes  and  princesses,  posed  before 
roundels  on  the  mid-cornice,  two  on  each  side  near  the  angles ; 
they  were  flanked  by  heroic  statues  of  the  Virtues,  rising  from 
ornate  corbels  almost  to  the  ceiling.  The  pure  white  of  these 
fine  plaster  sculptures  contrasted  agreeably  with  the  rich 
gilding  of  the  lavishly  decorated  cornices  and  ceiling ;  the  lat- 
ter being  again  superbly  coffered,  with  deeply  recessed  octa- 
gons and  florid  rosettes,  while  four  remarkable  festoons,  fully 
two  feet  in  diameter,  enclosed  the  central,  octagonal  painting. 
A  number  of  the  statues,  and  one  of  the  busts  —  that  of  Isa- 
bella d'Este  —  were  now  missing.  To  right  opened  the  Log- 
gia, looking  upon  the  lake  through  the  fine  triple  archway 
with  red  marble  columns  which  I  had  noticed  from  without; 


488  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

from  this  the  Gonzaghi  were  accustomed  to  show  their  visitors 
the  celebrated  view, —  grand  indeed  when  the  air  was  clear 
enough  to  discern  the  snowy  Alps.  The  decorations  here 
were  of  no  importance;  but  directly  behind,  facing  the  inner 
Cortile  dei  Cani,  were  the  delightful  Gabinetti  di  Primaticcio. 
On  these  two  little  rooms  that  master  poured  out  the  beauties 
of  his  fertile  imagination.17  Their  cornices  and  vaulting  are 
a  fairy  world  of  happy  fancies,  connected  by  richest  festoons 
of  coloured  fruits  and  flowers,  with  many  white  panels  of 
idyllic  scenes  filled  with  charming  figures,  and  other  figures 
and  musical  instruments  relieved  upon  the  consoles, —  the 
white  relievo  being  marked  against  a  formerly  azure  ground. 
The  first  chamber,  the  Camera  di  Apollo,  has  on  its  vaulting 
also  an  involved  representation  in  stucco  of  that  deity  "  sur- 
rounded by  joyous  nymphs,  fauns,  singers  and  musicians." 

The  Cortile  dei  Cani  was  the  original  hanging  garden,  de- 
riving its  name  from  the  odd  use  made  of  it  by  Isabella  and 
her  husband,  to  bury  a  number  of  their  deceased  pet  dogs; 
for  their  tombstones  even  Giulio  was  called  upon  for  designs. 
One  of  their  mortuary  inscriptions  yet  lingers  on  the  wall, 
amidst  the  empty  mosaic  niches  and  traces  of  frescoes.  To- 
day the  garden  is  fallen  to  earth  from  its  former  height, 
which  was  equal  with  the  surrounding  apartments.  Beyond 
this  and  the  Loggia,  along  the  southern  side  of  the  palace, 
extend  three  rooms  now  entirely  desolate ;  from  the  rearmost 
the  open  so-called  Loggia  of  Giulio  stretches  southward  to 
the  adjacent  northeast  angle  of  the  Cavallerizza.  But  we 
returned  to  the  Sala  di  Manto,  and  entered  the  suite  of  seven 

17  The  learned  Mantuan  authority,  Signor  A.  Patricolo,  insists 
that  these  were  decorated  after  Primaticcio  departed  for  France, 
most  probably  by  his  disciples,  Nicola  da  Milano,  the  dei  Conti,  and 
others;  but  to  me  it  seems  apparent  that  no  hand  but  the  master's 
was  capable  of  such  exquisite  fancies  and  perfect  execution. 


MANTUA  THE  MAGNIFICENT  489 

rooms  extending  south  from  it,  behind  the  Cortile  and  the  last- 
mentioned  loggia;  these  were  the  Appartimenti  di  Troia 
proper. 

The  first  was  the  large  Sala  del  Trionfo,  looking  west 
upon  the  apse  of  the  church:  so  called  because  it  contained, 
as  is  generally  believed,  the  7  great  canvases  of  Mantegna's 
Triumph  of  Caesar;  and  in  witness,  the  7  huge  panels  that 
held  them  extend  around  the  hall  above  the  string-course,  3 
on  the  longer  east  side,  2  upon  each  end.  The  dividing 
pilasters  are  beautifully  relieved,  and  the  roof  exhibits  the 
usual  elaborate  gilt  coffering.  Between  this  and  the  Cortile, 
looking  upon  the  latter,  stretch  three  little  rooms  that  were 
delightfully  decorated  with  stucchi  and  raphaelesques  by 
Giulio, —  done  with  an  excess  of  dainty  imagination,  a  clever- 
ness of  execution,  and  a  charm  of  colour  and  design  that 
have  been  rarely  equalled.  The  northernmost  is  the  gem  of 
the  Reggia.  The  southernmost  opens  into  another  small, 
square  chamber,  looking  upon  the  Loggia  of  Giulio, —  the 
Sala  degli  Undici  Imperatori:  in  this  were  kept  Titian's  fa- 
mous portrait-heads  of  the  Caesars  (he  never  finished  the 
twelfth)  in  three  square  niches  on  each  side  but  the  eastern, 
where  there  were  two  beside  the  window.  These  panels,  be- 
neath the  cornice,  but  over  six  feet  from  the  floor,  were  framed 
in  finely  relieved  mouldings,  and  separated  by  little  rounded 
niches  for  ancient  statuettes  or  oblong  compositions  of  ra- 
phaelesques and  stucchi.  The  vaulting  was  one  huge  fresco 
by  Giulio,  of  which  there  remain  but  a  handsome  head  of 
Diana,  and  other  fragments. 

Adjacent  to  the  Sala  del  Trionfo  on  the  south,  and,  like  it, 
looking  west  upon  the  church,  lies  the  medium-sized  Sala  di 
Giove,  or  dei  Capitani  di  Ventura.  The  first  name  came 
from  its  ceiling-painting,  which  depicts  Jupiter  in  the  heavens 
with  his  thunderbolts  in  hand,  and  a  cupid  and  an  eagle  at 


49Q  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

his  feet:  a  work  probably  of  Rinaldo  Montovani,  after 
Giulio's  cartoon.  The  second  name  came  from  the  12  busts 
0/  condottieri  placed  around  the  upper  walls  upon  corbels, 
before  circular  niches,  separated  by  handsome  pilasters ;  origi- 
nally of  bronze,  by  II  Lombardi,  they  were  replaced  after  the 
sack  by  these  plaster  copies.  From  this  chamber  I  entered, 
finally,  the  Sala  di  Troia  itself, —  a  spacious  room  looking 
upon  the  Loggia  of  Giulio.  Emerging  from  the  ruinous 
apartments  just  traversed,  its  world  of  brilliant  colour,  glow- 
ing from  every  wall  and  the  whole  wide  vaulting,  its  score 
of  splendid  tableaux  animated  with  dramatic  life,  its  hundreds 
of  lifelike  figures  glistening  in  gay-hued  vestments  and  mar- 
tial armour, —  struck  me  with  a  joyous,  dazzling  effect  that 
was  vastly  enhanced  by  the  contrast. 

It  was  the  Iliad  reproduced  by  Giulio  in  fresco:  overhead 
I  saw  the  deities  of  Olympus,  with  mighty  Jove  holding  in 
his  arms  the  form  of  Venus,  fainting  from  the  defeat  of  her 
beloved  Trojans;  roundabout  the  lower  vaulting,  just  above 
the  cornice,  stretched  the  famous  cycle  of  critical  scenes  from 
the  war,  undivided  and  running  into  each  other  like  the 
component  parts  of  one  huge  battle.  Here  Diomedes  is 
slaying  Astinous,  Xanthe  and  others;  here,  having  thrown 
down  j^Eneas  and  lifted  a  heavy  rock  to  kill  him,  Diomedes 
is  stopped  by  Mars  and  Apollo,  who  have  hastened  to  aid 
Venus  in  saving  her  hero;  here  Ideus  is  saved  from  the  same 
warrior  by  Vulcan,  and  the  Greek  then  hurls  Pandarus  from 
his  chariot ;  there  we  see  the  conflict  over  the  body  of  Patro- 
clus,  and  the  succeeding  final  struggle  in  which  the  Trojans 
are  victors.  The  arrangement  of  all  these  scenes,  the  group- 
ing and  dramatic  posturing,  are  worthy  of  the  highest  praise. 
The  individual  figures  and  their  expressions,  too,  must  in 
the  beginning  have  been  of  a  high  order,  judging  from  the 
reports  come  down  to  us;  but  unfortunately  that  same  re- 


MANTUA  THE  MAGNIFICENT  491 

painting  of  the  Austrian  period,  which  makes  the  colours  so 
bright  today,  destroyed  the  expressions  and  the  naturalness 
of  the  faces,  and  even  the  just  proportions  and  tactile  values 
of  the  forms. 

Under  the  cornice  other  large  tableaux  extend  around  the 
walls, —  incidents  connected  with  the  war :  we  see  the  Judg- 
ment of  Paris,  the  Rape  of  Helen,  Laocoon  and  his  sons,  and 
the  Wooden  Horse;  and  in  smaller  proportions,  the  Dream 
of  Andromache,  Ajax  struck  by  lightning,  Thetis  requesting 
the  armour  of  Vulcan,  and  handing  it  to  Achilles.  These 
pictures  also,  though  still  most  decorative,  still  finely  com- 
posed and  admirable  in  many  points,  were  spoiled  by  the  same 
"  restoring  "  brush.  It  is  as  a  spectacle,  a  decorative  scheme, 
that  we  must  now  consider  the  hall;  since  we  can  accredit  to 
Giulio  only  the  glory  of  the  splendid  composition.  This  was 
worthily  complemented  in  Gonzaga  days  by  many  of  their 
most  precious  furnishings, —  of  ebony  and  crystal,  rare  mar- 
bles and  inlaid  armour,  delicate  vases  and  glassware,  gold  and 
silver  plate,  and  ornaments  flashing  with  jewels  of  every  kind. 
From  this  chamber  alone  the  Imperialists  of  1 630  took  an  in- 
estimable fortune. 

Adjacent  to  this  shrine  of  neo-classic  painting  succeeds, 
most  appropriately,  the  superb  Sala  dei  Mar  mi,  or  Hall  of 
Ancient  Marbles,  which  must  have  been  the  most  thoroughly 
classic,  and  most  purely  magnificent,  of  all  the  chambers  of 
the  Reggia.  Nearly  the  size  of  the  Sala  degli  Specchi,  it 
lies  upon  the  south  of  the  Sala  di  Troia,  stretching  across  the 
northern  end  of  the  Cavallerizza, —  a  part  therefore  of  the 
latter  building.  Its  fine  proportions,  its  pure,  harmonious 
lines,  and  refined,  delightful  decorations,  form  the  strongest 
witness  to  Giulio's  taste  and  genius,  and  constitute  to  my 
mind  one  of  his  noblest  monuments.  Along  the  northern 
wall,  opposite  the  six  windows  looking  into  the  tourney-yard, 


492  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

extend  a  series  of  exquisitely  framed  niches,  divided  by  pilas- 
ters painted  with  arabesques,  in  which  were  posed  the  chief 
statues  of  the  Gonzaga  collection.  The  plastic  adornment 
of  these  round-arched  frames  is  surpassingly  lovely;  two  of 
them,  next  the  ends,  hold  doorways  in  place  of  niches,  topped 
by  roundels  for  busts,  and  pretty  frescoed  bacchantes  on  gold. 
Other  busts  formerly  were  perched  upon  dainty  consoles  pro- 
jecting from  the  row  of  pilasters  at  two-thirds  height,  forming 
portions  of  a  continuous,  richly  moulded  cornice  that  crosses 
the  shoulders  of  the  arches.  Over  their  tops  runs  the  princi- 
pal, heavier  cornice,  of  graceful  design.  Similar  pilasters 
separate  the  windows,  between  two  of  which,  in  the  middle, 
stands  a  subsidiary  niche.  At  each  end  opens  an  apsidal  re- 
cess, holding  a  doorway  flanked  by  smaller  niches;  beside 
which,  in  the  upper  angles  of  the  wall,  between  the  two  cor- 
nices, were  placed  lifesize  stucco  divinities  arranged  in 
couples, —  but  two  now  remaining ;  and  similar  figures  re- 
clined in  the  spandrels  of  the  window-frames. 

One  of  the  most  pleasing  things  about  these  stately  walls 
is  their  soft  grey,  dove-like  colour,  which  certainly  harmon- 
ised most  happily  with  the  gleaming  white  of  the  marbles. 
This  is  not  disturbed  by  the  gentle  hues  of  the  delicate  ara- 
besques that  adorn  the  pilasters  and  the  flat  panels  of  the 
niche-frames,  and  cover  the  long  rounded  vaulting  from  end 
to  end.  The  ground-shade  of  the  vaulting  is  the  same  soft 
grey;  it  is  divided  into  immense  bays  by  decorative  ribs,  each 
bay  being  centered  by  a  medallion  of  winsome,  frolicking  putti 
on  azure,  with  lunettes  of  the  same  cresting  the  cornice;  the 
slopes  hold  charming  panels  of  stuccoed  white  figures  on  a 
black  ground,  well  preserved ;  smaller,  frescoed  panels  are 
freely  spaced  over  the  remainder  of  the  slopes,  and  the  whole 
grey  ground  is  a  mass  of  minute  arabesques. 

Three  statues  of  no  importance  had  been  reinserted  in  the 


MANTUA  THE  MAGNIFICENT  493 

northern  wall,  when  I  saw  it,  to  give  in  part  the  original 
effect;  but  that  throng  of  ancient  sculptures  which  glorified 
this  hall,  is  scattered  far  and  wide  through  the  museums  of 
Europe.  Some  of  them,  we  know  not  which,  I  had  beheld 
in  the  Museo  Civico;  but  enough  of  the  latter  collection 
should  by  all  means  be  placed  here,  to  revivify  this  magnificent 
gallery,  so  fortunately  preserved.  Giulio's  designs  here,  ac- 
cording to  Sig.  Patricolo,  were  not  carried  out  by  himself, 
but  by  the  same  pupils  who  built  for  him  the  Palazzo  Te, — 
Scultori,  Luca  da  Faenza,  Fermo  da  Caravaggio,  II  Recanati, 
and  Rinaldo  Mantovano. 

What  better  than  these  precincts  can  recall  for  us  that  won- 
derful period  of  man's  new  mental  birth,  when  every  thought 
of  his  restored  culture  was  thus  devoted  to  the  Beautiful. 
Here  indeed  can  we  realise  the  truth  of  Symonds'  summary: 
"  The  speech  of  the  Italians  at  that  epoch,  their  social  habits, 
their  ideal  of  manners,  their  standard  of  morality,  the  esti- 
mate they  formed  of  men,  were  alike  conditioned  and  qualified 
by  art.  It  was  an  age  of  splendid  ceremonies  and  magnificent 
parade,  when  the  furniture  of  houses,  the  armour  of  soldiers, 
the  dress  of  citizens,  the  pomp  of  war,  and  the  pageantry  of 
festival  were  invariably  and  inevitably  beautiful.  On  the 
meanest  article  of  domestic  utility  —  a  wealth  of  artistic  in- 
vention was  lavished  by  innumerable  craftsmen  no  less  skilled 
in  technical  details  than  distinguished  by  rare  taste."  18  As 
Gregorovius  well  said,  "  The  Renaissance  has  been  called  an 
intellectual  bacchanalia." 

Piero  Soranzo,  of  the  suite  of  the  Venetian  ambassadors 
who  came  to  Mantua  in  November,  15 15,  has  given  us  a 
glimpse  of  Gianfrancesco  III  in  the  midst  of  these  sumptuous 
halls.  Through  the  innumerable  rooms  and  corridors  they 
were  conducted  to  "  the  palace  of  S.  Sebastiano,  and  admired 

18  J.  A.  Symonds'  "Fine  Arts." 


494  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

the  magnificent  series  of  Triumphs  painted  by  Mantegna. 
After  this  they  were  ushered  into  another  suite  of  apartments, 
where  the  same  odour  of  rich  perfumes  met  them  on  the 
threshold.  Here  they  found  the  Marquis  reclining  on  a  couch 
by  the  hearth  of  a  richly  adorned  room,  with  his  pet  dwarf 
clad  in  gold  brocade,  and  three  superb  greyhounds  lying  at  his 
feet.  Three  pages  stood  by,  waving  large  fans,  lest  even  a 
hair  should  fall  upon  him ;  a  quantity  of  falcons  and  hawks 
in  leash  were  in  the  room,  and  the  walls  were  hung  with 
pictures  of  favourite  dogs  and  horses.  Francesco  received 
the  envoys  graciously,  and  gave  orders  that  they  should  be 
shown  the  other  halls  of  the  palace,  containing  Costa's  re- 
cently painted  frescoes,  etc.  The  beauty  and  extent  of  the 
gardens  and  the  magnificent  view  from  the  Loggia  greatly 
impressed  the  visitors,  as  well  as  the  gorgeous  dinner-service 
of  wrought  silver."  19 

The  door  in  this  hall's  eastern  end  admitted  us  to  the  Log- 
gia of  Giulio  Romano,  which  looks  upon  the  lake  through  four 
great  arches.  The  ground  in  front  was  formerly  a  luxuriant 
garden  reaching  to  the  water's  edge;  under  the  Austrians 
it  became  a  fort,  and  now  is  a  grass-grown  space  used  for  a 
tir  aux  pigeons.  The  four  bays  of  the  vaulting  are  dec- 
orated with  arabesques,  and  in  the  lunettes  are  dilapidated 
frescoes  of  putt'i  and  medallions,  including  a  pair  of  genii 
holding  the  arms  of  Vincenzo  I,  quartered  with  those  of 
his  Medicean  consort.  The  painting  otherwise  was  of 
Guglielmo's  time ;  and  the  structure  was  a  work  of  Giulio's, 
to  connect  the  palace  with  the  long,  covered  corridor  leading 
to  the  Appartamenti  Stivali,  which  lie  beyond  the  Caval- 
lerizza. 

This  corridor,  which  we  next  entered,  runs  along  the  lake- 

19  Julia  Cartwright    (Supra). 


MANTUA  THE  MAGNIFICENT  495 

side  of  the  tourney-yard,  in  the  second  storey  of  the  latter's 
arcade;  it  is  open  on  each  hand,  with  alternate  arches  and 
square  windows,  corresponding  to  the  same  design  below. 
Toward  the  water  the  facade  of  this  double  arcade  is  plain ; 
toward  the  yard  it  is  adorned  similarly  to  the  other  sides 
of  the  huge  rectangle, —  of  which  I  was  now  offered  a  com- 
plete view.  The  long  plot  where  knights  once  tilted,  where 
the  cinquecento  dukes  set  their  brilliant  martial  spectacles, 
was  today  but  a  grassy,  forgotten  quadrangle  in  which 
washed  linen  was  hanging  to  dry;  the  ground  storey  of  the 
surrounding  arcades  was  mostly  built  up  within  its  arches, 
framed  in  radiating  rustica;  the  second  storey  remained 
open, —  its  alternating  arches  and  square  apertures,  set  in 
similar  heavy  rustica,  being  divided  by  ponderous,  twisted, 
fluted  half-columns,  rising  from  corbels  to  the  doric  frieze; 
over  the  latter  ran  a  high,  panelled  parapet.  It  was  all 
stucco-work,  but  painted  a  natural  stone-colour,  to  which 
the  deep  rustica  and  bulky  columns  added  a  further  sense  of 
ponderosity.  Along  the  ends  there  were  arches  only,  inset 
with  the  rectangular  window-frames  of  the  Sala  dei  Marmi 
and  the  Appartamenti  Stivali;  in  the  upper  storey  of  the 
western  side,  both  the  arches  and  square  openings  were  like- 
wise turned  into  windows,  for  the  lighting  of  the  great  Mos- 
tra  Gallery,  which  lies  there. 

The  double-arcade  upon  the  east  side,  with  its  corridor, 
was  erected  sometime  after  the  rest  of  the  structure;  the 
lake  itself  was  at  first  the  boundary  here,  and  the  end-walls 
reached  down  to  it.  This  enabled  the  Gonzaghi  to  add 
water-displays  and  naval  battles  to  their  grandiose  spectacles, 
in  the  manner  of  the  Romans;  and  we  read  that  Federigo 
offered  such  an  entertainment  to  Charles  V,  during  his  event- 
ful stay  in  1530.     Upon  such  occasions  large  wooden  tribunes 


496  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

and  stands  were  put  up  around  the  walls,  and  awnings  drawn 
over  them  from  the  parapets  of  the  roof, —  whose  fastenings 
may  still  be  seen. 

At  the  end  of  the  corridor  I  entered  the  Appartamenti 
Stivali, —  a  shortening  of  estivali,  and  meaning  therefore  the 
summer  apartments,  since  they  were  built  open  to  the  tourney- 
yard,  the  Giardino  del  Padiglione  and  the  lake,  for  the 
zephyrs  of  the  latter  to  play  freely  through;  to  this  secluded 
corner  of  the  Reggia  the  later  dukes  retired  in  hot  weather, 
as  isolated  as  if  they  were  in  a  country  villa.  Bertani  put 
up  the  building,  about  1562,  under  Guglielmo's  orders. 
Four  chambers  look  upon  the  Cavallerizza,  of  which  the 
westernmost  only  conserves  any  remnants  of  the  original  dec- 
orations, the  others  having  been  desolated  by  the  savage 
tenants  that  occupied  them  under  the  Austrian  regime. 
South  of  these  extends  a  long  room  called  the  Loggia  dei 
Frutti,  because  its  eastern  end  looked  upon  the  lake  through 
a  triple  archway  and  balcony  and  its  stucco  ornamentation 
was  largely  of  fruits.  It  was  the  central  and  principal  cham- 
ber of  the  apartments ;  and  its  scheme  of  decoration,  still  well 
preserved,  is  one  of  the  loveliest  things  in  all  the  Reggia. 
The  cornice  and  the  beams  of  the  coffered  ceiling  are  ex- 
quisitely relieved  with  festoons  and  straight  garlands  com- 
posed of  fruits,  leaves  and  vegetables,  wrought  deceivingly 
of  stucco  and  painted  in  natural  hues;  and  the  alternate 
large  and  narrow  panels  are  frescoed  with  charming  though 
faded  scenes,  from  the  legend  of  Manto  and  Tiresias,  and 
individual  figures  of  much  grace. 

On  the  south  again  of  this,  at  the  building's  southeastern 
angle,  lies  a  room  but  slightly  smaller,  divided  by  a  triple, 
columned  archway;  through  all  these  apartments  the  ceilings 
are   low,   and    the   embellishments   confined   to   appropriate 


MANTUA  THE  MAGNIFICENT  497 

rural  subjects,  with  an  eye  to  the  charming  rather  than  the 
magnificent,  giving  the  whole  place  an  intimate,  homelike 
air.  In  the  last  mentioned  chamber  its  cinquecento  stucchi 
and  frescoes  are  mostly  covered  over  by  later  painting  and 
whitewash;  but  behind  it  I  came  to  the  delightful  Camera 
del  Pesce,  looking  southward  upon  the  Giardino  del  Padigli- 
one:  above  its  frieze  of  festoons  stretches  a  row  of  14  large 
sea-shells,  moulded  like  that  of  the  clam,  with  bunches  of 
fruit  inside  their  grooves;  the  heavy  beams  of  the  vaulted 
roof,  intersecting  obliquely,  form  triangles  over  the  shells, 
and  are  quaintly  but  prettily  relieved  on  their  faces  by  con- 
tinuous strings  of  fish,  of  much  variation  and  realism ;  while 
the  coffers  are  painted  with  other  fishes,  ducks,  and  many 
species  of  aquatic  life. 

There  followed,  continuing  west,  the  pleasing  little  Cam- 
era della  Gemma,  appropriately  named,  for  it  is  indeed  a  gem 
of  delicate  ornamentation :  square  panels  of  reliefs  extend 
above  the  rich,  arabesqued  frieze,  and  the  small  polygonal 
compartments  of  the  sumptuous  ceiling  are  formed  by  the 
most  delicately  modelled  ridges, —  although  their  frescoes, 
and  that  of  the  large  central  panel,  have  mouldered  away. 
From  this  I  entered  to  right  the  southernmost  of  the  four 
rooms  looking  upon  the  tourney-yard,  which  exhibited  still 
another  beautiful  ceiling  of  luxurious  stucco  mouldings,  with 
coffers  of  stucchi  and  arabesques.  A  little  hallway  lay  on 
its  west ;  and  from  this  I  stepped  to  right  into  the  vast  Gal- 
leria  della  Mostra,  stretching  along  the  western  side  of  the 
Cavallerizza, —  the  largest  and  one  of  the  grandest  of  the 
halls  of  the  Reggia,  215  feet  long  by  22  in  width. 

Here  was  gathered  and  set  up  by  Dukes  Guglielmo  and 
Vincenzo  I,  in  surroundings  of  the  utmost  magnificence,  the 
celebrated    Gonzaga    Museum    of    natural    history, —  in    its 


498  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

time  one  of  the  half-dozen  greatest  in  the  world ; 20  hence 
the  name  of  Mosira,  or  display.  The  countless  objects  were 
exposed  in  cases  set  along  the  west  wall,  well  lighted  by  the 
continuous  openings  of  the  eastern.  We  see  today  the  hand- 
some pilasters  dividing  the  recesses  in  which  the  cases  stood, 
and  the  panels  above  them  that  held  the  marvellous  row  of 
canvases  by  the  greatest  masters, —  including  Mantegna, 
Costa,  Palma,  Tiziano,  Correggio  and  Guercino;  and  above 
these  we  observe  the  oval  niches,  flanked  by  smaller  ones,  in 
which  were  posed  the  long  rows  of  antique  statues  and  busts  of 
the  Roman  Emperors, —  the  same  busts,  in  part,  that  rest  now 
in  the  Museo  Civico.  The  wooden  roof  of  Giulio's  designing 
was  splendidly  coffered  and  gilded,  but  now  is  mostly  fallen. 
The  eastern  arches,  which  before  the  reconstruction  of  Fran- 
cesco II  were  entirely  open,  and  thus  gave  free  admission  to 
the  seats  placed  for  tourneys,  are  now  built  up  except  for 
oblong  apertures  in  ornate  baroque  frames,  topped  each  by 
three  successive  niches,  for  other  busts.  The  end-walls  are 
beautifully  decorated  in  stucco-work,  with  portals  framed 
by  Corinthian  half-columns,  and  capped  by  pediments. — There 
is  talk,  which  I  sincerely  hope  will  be  carried  out,  of  trans- 
porting to  this  hall  and  its  neighbour,  the  Sala  dei  Marmi, 
the  art-collections  of  the  Accademia  and  Museo  Civico.  Such 
an  extraordinary  opportunity  to  give,  for  once  at  least,  an 
ideal  and  historic  setting  to  a  museum  of  ancient  sculptures, 
should  not  be  neglected. 

Returning  to  the  hallway  at  the  southern  end,  we  pro- 
ceeded again  westward  along  the  northern  side  of  the  Giar- 
dino  del  Padiglione,  through  the  final  four  chambers  of  the 
A ppartamenti  Stivali,  called  the  Stanze  della  Metamorfosi : 
their  ceilings,  except  that  of  the  last  room,  which  was  used 

20  See  description  of  it  in  Carlo  d'Arco's  "  Dell'  Arte  e  degli 
Artefici  di  Mantova." 


MANTUA  THE  MAGNIFICENT  499 

by  the  recent  tenants  as  a  kitchen,  are  remarkably  preserved, 
and  exquisitely  decorated  with  stucchi  and  painting.  The 
first  two  depict  scenes  from  Ovid  (whence  the  name)  and 
the  third  contains  several  charming  idyllic  tableaux  in  oil ;  all 
of  which  are  declared  to  be  works  of  the  seicento,  under 
Vincenzo  and  his  three  sons.  From  the  late  kitchen,  directly 
beneath  the  northeast  angle  of  the  Paradiso  building,  and 
therefore  under  Isabella's  suite,  I  stepped  into  the  Padiglione 
garden;  and  from  its  turf  was  afforded  a  clear  view  of  the 
fine  eastern  facade  of  that  building,  erected  in  the  best  early 
Renaissance  style  by  Lodovico  II.  The  pavilion  from  which 
the  garden  derived  its  name,  an  extension  upon  marble  col- 
umns of  the  Galleria  della  Mostra,  was  demolished  shortly 
after  1755. 

From  the  final  chamber  of  the  Stivali  a  short  passage 
continuing  westward  led  us  directly  into  the  semicircular 
corridor  which  curves  around  the  forecourt  of  S.  Barbara, 
starting  from  the  campanile  at  the  southern  end  of  the 
church's  faqade  and  merging  itself  at  the  other  end  into  the 
great  corridor  to  the  Castello.  It  is  midway  in  this  semi- 
circle that  the  steps  descend  into  it  from  the  Corridoio  dei 
Mori,  where  I  had  started ;  but  just  before  reaching  those 
steps  my  guide  turned  aside  through  a  little  doorway  on  the 
left,  and  led  me  through  the  celebrated  Appartamenti  dei 
Nani.  They  occupy  the  mezzanine  floor  beneath  the  Sala 
degli  Specchi  and  Appartamenti  Ducali,  looking  upon  the 
Court  of  Honour  on  one  side  and  the  Piazza  Paradiso  on 
the  other. 

This  strange  suite  of  rooms  for  the  ducal  dwarfs  is  a 
unique  curiosity,  whose  like  I  have  never  heard  of  elsewhere. 
Guglielmo  was  the  builder;  but  before  his  day  Lodovico 
and  Barbara  had  a  valued  pair  of  midgets,  known  as  Fran- 
ceschino   and   wife,   and   Isabella   derived    much   amusement 


500  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

from  another  couple,  called  Morgantino  and  Delia.21  Under 
Guglielmo  their  number  was  so  increased,  that  he  bethought 
himself  of  this  dwelling,  proportionate  to  their  size  in  all 
respects.  The  three  stairways  rising  to  it  have  tiny  steps, 
the  ceilings  graze  one's  head,  the  doorways  one  has  to  bend 
to  enter,  and  the  rooms  are  mostly  cell-like  cubicles, —  unfor- 
tunately stripped  today  of  their  minute  furniture.  A  few 
of  them  are  broader:  the  entrance-hall,  the  succeeding  vesti- 
bule with  its  little  doric  columns,  the  central,  circular  saletta 
with  its  archways  and  tiny  niches,  and  the  miniature  chapel. 
All  is  upon  such  a  perfect  scale  that  the  dazed  visitor  begins 
to  fancy  himself  transported  to  Lilliputia.  A  fourth  stairway 
is  observed,  by  which  the  dwarfs  mounted  directly  to  the 
Duke's  apartments  overhead.  The  ornamentation  is  not 
elaborate,  but  there  is  an  amount  of  fair  stucco-work  in  the 
cornices  and  ceilings, —  with  difficulty  inspected,  for  the 
rooms  had  been  darkened  by  the  erection  of  the  corridor  I  had 
just  left,  and  by  the  arcade  toward  the  Cortile  d'Onore. 

By  this  arcade  I  reached  its  brother  on  the  court's  southern 
side,  which  is  the  continuation  of  the  main  entrance-hallway 
of  the  palace ;  and  here,  at  the  completion  of  the  grand  circle 
of  inspection  which  had  taken  so  many  hours  and  days,  that 
inspection  was  fitly  capped  by  the  sight  of  the  Reggid's 
most  famous  and  most  interesting  locale, —  its  treasure-cham- 
ber, the  Grotta  of  Isabella.  This,  or  rather  what  is  left  of 
it,  lies  between  the  Court  of  Honour  and  the  Piazza  del  Pal- 
lone,  looking  upon  the  latter:  consisting  now  of  but  one 
chamber,  the  so-called  Schalcheria,  and  the  arcaded  cortile  or 
cloistered  garden  upon  its  east.  The  entrance  is  to  the 
former.  For  an  instant  upon  entering  I  was  disappointed, 
having  been  unconsciously  expecting  to  behold  some  relics  of 

21  See  "  Buffoni,  nani  e  schiavi  dei  Gonzaga  ai  tempi  dell'  Isa- 
bella d'Este;"  by  Luzio  and  Renier   (Nuova  Antologia). 


MANTUA  THE  MAGNIFICENT  501 

those  innumerable  art-treasures  of  priceless  value,  which  Isa- 
bella spent  so  many  years  in  acquiring  and  mounting ;  yet  what 
still  lingers  is  of  such  significance  that  a  number  of  volumes 
would  be  necessary  to  contain  its  literature.22  That  which 
I  saw,  however,  to  be  brief,  was  a  good-sized,  oblong  apart- 
ment, with  bare  plastered  walls,  above  whose  cornice  extended 
a  beautiful  series  of  frescoed  lunettes,  and  a  magnificent 
vaulted  ceiling,  completely  decorated  with  arabesques,  stucchi 
and  painted  panels,  well  preserved  and  still  bright  in  hue. 

These  were  a  work  of  Lorenzo  Leonbruno,  executed  in 
1522, —  although  Isabella  had  first  occupied  the  place  in 
1496,  on  finding  the  Studiolo  too  small  for  her  growing 
collection.  The  14  lunettes  depicted  scenes  from  the  chase 
of  Diana,  much  injured  by  modern  retouching  but  still  of 
most  pleasing  effect:  on  three  sides  was  being  run  the  chase 
of  the  deer,  on  the  fourth,  that  of  the  hare  and  the  boar;  all 
of  the  hounds  were  remarkably  lifelike  creatures,  copied 
from  actual  dogs  of  Duke  Federigo, —  just  as  all  the  subjects, 
and  the  scheme  of  the  ceiling  (every  decoration  of  the  place, 
in  fact)  were  furnished  by  the  Marchesa  Isabella.  One 
great  hexagonal  panel  occupies  the  flat  of  the  vaulting,  upon 
whose  white  ground  the  clever  grotesques  are  very  freely 
spaced ;  its  centre  is  a  medallion  portraying  an  upward  well- 
perspective,  ending  in  a  balustrade  with  a  young  girl  and 
a  cupid  looking  down, —  in  imitation  of  Mantegna's  similar 
picture  in  the  Camera  degli  Sposi.  Isabella  is  said  to  be 
represented  in  the  young  woman,  but  her  pretty  features 
are  obscured  by  the  work's  decay.     Around  this  are  placed 

22  L'edificatione  di  Mantua  e  1'origine  dell'  antichissima  Famig- 
lia  de'  Principi  Gonzaghi,"  by  Raphael  Toscano  (1587)  and  the  In- 
ventory made  by  the  notary  Odoardo  Stivini  (1542)  have  handed 
down  to  posterity  exact  descriptions  of  this  wonderful  place  in  its 
full  grandeur,  and  a  catalogue  of  its  contents. 


502  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

four  smaller  medallions,  holding  charming  little  white  stucco 
figures,  relieved  on  gold.  All  these  were  till  recently  be- 
lieved to  have  been  done  by  Giulio,  and  Lanzi  speaks  of  them 
in  evident  wonder  as  his  "  beautiful  works, —  in  which  we 
still  perceive  some  reminiscence  of  Raphael's  engaging 
naivete."  Over  the  large  chimney-piece  on  the  southern  wall 
there  is,  however,  a  frescoed  group  that  is  far  more  in  Giulio's 
manner, —  Venus  caressing  Cupid,  with  Vulcan  looking  on ; 
and  this  it  is  very  probable  that  he  painted. 

The  walls,  according  to  the  best  authorities,  were  in  Isa- 
bella's time  richly  wainscoted  on  the  lower  part;  and  above 
this  there  were  panels  formed  by  ornate  pilasters  or  strips 
of  arras,  holding  the  marvellous  series  of  pictures;  contem- 
porary descriptions  speak  of  the  beautiful  woodwork,  carved, 
gilded,  and  set  with  the  finest  tarsiatura,  and  of  the  splendid 
majolica  pavement  of  Pesaro  tiles,  decorated  with  the  various 
Gonzaga  emblems.23  The  room  adjoining  on  the  west,  now 
quite  bare,  then  belonged  to  the  suite  and  was  similarly 
adorned.  Of  the  pictures  that  filled  them  five  were  partic- 
ularly renowned,  by  Mantegna,  Costa  and  Perugino.  Like 
all  the  paintings,  they  were  executed  to  Isabella's  order,  upon 
subjects  minutely  prescribed  and  measurements  given  by  her, 
to  take  their  allotted  place  in  her  classic  scheme  of  alle- 
gorical fancies,  which  should  give  "  expression  to  her  ideals 
of  culture  and  dispose  the  mind  to  pure  and  noble  thoughts." 

The  first  of  Mantegna's  was  his  famous  Parnassus,  or 
Triumph  of  Love,  executed  in  tempera  and  one  of  his  few 
greatest  works.  The  second  depicted  the  Vices  being  driven 
from  an  elysian  retreat  by  Minerva,  the  goddess  of  wisdom. 
Both  were  finished  by  the  year  1501.     One  of  Costa's  two 

23  Vide  "  Isabella  d'Este  et  les  Artistes  de  son  Temps,"  by  Chas. 
Yriarte  in  the  "Gazette  des  Beaux  Arts,"  1895. —  Some  of  these  tiles 
may  be  seen  in  the  South  Kensington  Museum. 


MANTUA  THE  MAGNIFICENT  503 

allegories  represented  the  Triumph  of  Poetry,  with  Isabella 
portrayed  as  the  queen  of  that  art,  being  crowned  by  Love 
and  presiding  over  a  circle  of  immortals;  this  was  done  in 
1505,  and  as  a  consequence  Costa  was  called  to  Mantua  as 
court-painter  in  the  following  year.  Perugino's  composition, 
the  Triumph  of  Chastity,  was  not  so  entirely  successful,  for 
that  genius  was  hampered  by  the  Marchesa's  numerous  re- 
strictions;2*  it  portrays  Diana  and  Minerva  overcoming  in 
conflict  Venus  and  Cupid, —  backed  by  his  usual  happy  vista 
of  the  Umbrian  hills  and  plain.  The  whole  five  pictures 
now  hang  in  the  Louvre.  Isabella  failed  in  all  her  efforts 
to  get  an  allegory  from  Gian  Bellini;25  but  later  on  she 
procured  a  number  of  superb  works  from  Titian  and  Correg- 
gio,  which  fitly  complemented  the  series.  The  rooms,  we 
must  remember,  were  also  crowded  with  cabinets  and  stands 
loaded  with  countless  rare  objets  d'art  of  every  known  spe- 
cies, besides  books,  manuscripts  and  musical  instruments  of 
the  highest  value. 

To  the  left  opens  the  cortile,  through  a  sort  of  arched 
loggia  which  was  the  original  Grotta  proper;  for  it  was 
covered  with  roughened  stucco  in  the  rustic  style,  and  its 
recesses,  on  both  sides  of  the  passage-way,  were  lined  with* 
niches  in  which  Isabella  placed  all  the  most  treasured  mar- 
bles of  her  collection.  These  niches  still  remain,  some  of 
them  adorned  with  the  original  mosaic-backs;  some  are  ob- 
long, for  statuettes,  others  rounded,  for  vases  and  shorter 
marbles.     In  Gonzaga  days  this  little  place  was  wainscoted, 

24  To  see  her  curious  directions  in  full,  vide  M.  Eugene  Muntz's 
"  Histoire  de  1'Art  pendant  la  Renaissance:  Italie,"  Vol.  II. 

25  Eventually  Bellini  contributed  a  beautiful  Holy  Family,  and 
Dosso  Dossi  of  Ferrara,  a  number  of  lovely  scenes.  Titian's 
were  a  series  of  "  unrivalled  portraits  and  a  splendid  array  of 
Holy  Families  and  Saints  painted  in  the  same  glowing  colours,  with 
the  same  exquisite  landscapes." 


504  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

with  low  benches,  with  three  cupboards  for  valuables,  and 
two  shelves  extending  above  rich  cornices.  Upon  these 
shelves  and  in  the  niches  the  Marchesa  gathered  some  forty 
small  pieces  of  marble  sculpture, —  original  works,  and  repro- 
ductions on  a  small  scale  of  the  most  famous  antiques  — 
besides  some  fifty  original  antique  bronzes.  "  In  the  cup- 
boards were  cameos,  sole  or  set  in  wrought  gold ;  one  counted 
by  dozens  the  chests  of  ivory  and  of  precious  woods,  en- 
graved, inlaid,  and"  set  with  jewels;  the  perfumery  bottles 
and  vases  of  precious  marbles,  and  articles  glittering  with 
priceless  gems,  occupied  every  angle,  amongst  a  rich  collection 
of  250  exemplary  jewels  exposed  in  cases,  and  boxes  whose 
compartments  held  another  thousand.  A  superb  table  of 
porphyry  enclosed  in  carved  wood,  with  a  most  delicate 
mosaic  frieze  of  animals  and  foliage,  was  near  the  window, 
and  upon  it  the  celebrated  iron  inkstand  adorned  with  jewels 
set  in  gold."  2G 

But  of  all  these  treasures  the  most  precious  were  the  three 
famous  "  Cupids  "  of  Isabella, —  the  marble  statuettes  by 
Praxiteles,  Sansovino  and  Michelangiolo,  which  in  those  days 
excited  so  much  wonder  and  admiration.  They  occupied 
three  of  the  most  prominent  niches. —  Beyond  the  Grotta 
extended  the  cortile,  about  30  feet  in  length  by  25  in  width, 
with  triple-arched  porticoes  at  the  ends,  upheld  each  by  four 
marble  columns ;  no  arcades  were  at  the  sides,  but  high  walls 
decorated  with  rows  of  half-columns,  rising  from  pedestals 
to  the  continuous,  classic  cornice,  and  tipped  with  varied 
capitals  of  exquisite  beauty,  which  must  have  been  carved 
by  first-class  sculptors.  A  small  garden  occupied  the  middle, 
with  a  paved  walk  on  its  northern  side ;  the  charming  marble 
fountain  that  formerly  cooled  the  air  from  its  centre,  is 
gone.     Upon  the  frieze  of  the   farther  portico  I   read  the 

26  Sig.  A.  Patricolo;  translated  freely  by  the  author. 


MANTUA  THE  MAGNIFICENT  505 

words,  still  plainly  visible:  "Isabella  Estensis,  regum 
Aragonum  neptis,  ducum  Ferrariae  filia  et  soror,  Marchi- 
onum  Gonzagarum  coniux  et  mater,  fecit  anno  a  partu  Vir- 
ginis  MDXXII;"27  which  showed  the  date  when  Isabella 
had  this  garden  enlarged  and  readorned  in  its  present  form, 
and  the  rooms  redecorated.  At  the  ends  of  each  portico 
were  two  niches,  and  in  its  back  wall  one  larger  niche,  that 
formerly  held  choice  statues;  roundabout  them,  and  on  the 
side  walls  of  the  court,  wrere  visible  fragments  of  further 
decoration  in  mosaics  and  frescoing,  which  included  the  use 
of  many  precious  marbles,  with  the  repetition  of  Isabella's 
various  emblems. 

These  decorations  in  her  day  added  a  brilliant  colour- 
scheme  to  the  graces  of  the  architecture,  the  marbles,  the 
vases,  the  numerous  other  delightful  ornaments  posed  upon 
pedestals  and  fancy  tables,  amidst  the  setting  of  shrubbery 
with  its  splashing  fountain ;  and  here,  beneath  an  awning 
drawn  across  the  top  to  ward  off  the  sun  and  the  rain,  the 
Marchesa  and  her  friends  lounged  away  countless  happy  hours 
on  couches  and  easy  chairs,  reading,  talking  philosophy  and 
art,  fondling  and  discussing  her  latest  treasures,  and  listening 
to  soft  music.  "  Here  she  would  read  her  favourite  authors, 
or  sing  Virgil  and  Petrarch's  verses  to  her  lute.  Here  she 
would  play  the  clavichord  with  the  Greek  and  Latin  mottoes, 
—  and  listen  to  the  strains  of  Jacopo  da  San  Secondo's  viol, 
or  the  recitations  of  the  wonderful  improvisatore,  Serafino." 
The  amazement  and  pleasure  of  foreign  envoys  and  visitors 
of  distinction,  on  being  received  in  such  surroundings,  may 
be  easily  understood ;  and  equally  were  they  impressed  by  the 
beauty,  graces,  learning  and  extraordinary  character  of  the 

27  "  Isabella  Estense,  niece  of  the  kings  of  Aragon  (Naples) 
daughter  and  sister  of  the  dukes  of  Ferrara,  consort  and  mother  of 
the  marquises  of  Gonzaga,  constructed  this  in  the  year  1522." 


506  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

great  Marchesa  herself,  thus  framed  and  set  forth  by  all 
that  was  inspiring. 

Giangiorgio  Trisseno,  the  Vicentine  poet,  who  was  re- 
ceived into  Isabella's  literary  circle  when  driven  from  his 
home  by  the  war  of  the  League  of  Cambrai,  has  left  us  an 
accurate  picture  of  her  at  about  33  years  of  age:  "  A  lady 
more  radiant  than  the  sun,  with  golden  hair  falling  on  her 
shoulders,  loosely  caught  up  in  a  tan-coloured  silk  net,  with 
knots  of  fine  gold  through  which  her  locks  shone  like  bright 
rays  of  light;  a  sparkling  ruby  and  a  large  pearl  glittered  on 
her  forehead,  and  a  rope  of  pearls  hung  from  her  neck  to 
her  waist;  her  black  velvet  robe  was  embroidered  in  gold. — 
Her  voice,  in  the  words  of  Petrarch,  is  a  thing  chiara,  soave, 
angelica,  e  divina.  It  would  have  charmed  Orpheus  and 
Amphion  themselves  by  its  entrancing  sweetness. —  And  if 
you  had  once  heard  her  sing  to  the  lute,  you  would,  like  the 
Sirens,  forget  home  and  country  to  follow  its  enchanted  mel- 
ody. Truly  God  has  given  her  all  the  gifts  of  the  Mu- 
ses." 28 

On  leaving  the  Grotta  I  was,  by  special  request,  shown  the 
near-by  rooms  on  the  ground-floor  of  the  northern  Buonacolsi 
palace,  between  the  Cortile  d'Onore  and  Piazza  Sordello ; 
this  score  of  chambers,  together  with  certain  of  those  over- 
head (probably  the  Appartamento  degli  Arazzi)  formed 
the  suite  to  which  Isabella  removed  her  habitation,  from  the 
Castello,  in  the  year  following  her  husband's  death  (1520). 
In  them  she  resided  until  her  son's  marriage,  in  1531 ;  when 
she  was  compelled  to  move  the  final  time,  to  the  suite  of  the 
Paradise  I  found  the  bare  rooms  just  in  course  of  restora- 
tion from  their  past  two  centuries  of  neglect  and  abuse. 
From  the  whitewashing  were  emerging  here  and  there,  upon 

28Trisseno's  "  Ritratti,"  as  translated  by  Julia  Cartwright 
(Supra). 


MANTUA  THE  MAGNIFICENT  507 

walls  and  over  chimney-pieces,  bits  of  Isabella's  frescoing, 
including  her  usual  mottoes  and  devices;  the  ceilings  were 
of  little  beauty,  owing  to  decay  and  subsequent  renewal,  but 
every  indication  was  of  interest,  that  showed  what  they  were 
in  the  Marchesa's  day.  At  the  northeast  corner  of  the  small, 
central  Cortile  di  S.  Croce,  I  noticed  the  private  staircase 
connecting  with  the  upper  apartments ;  there  were  her  private 
chambers,  and  here  were  her  reception-rooms,  and  those  de- 
voted to  her  kitchens  and  domestic  establishment. —  By  the 
time  that  this  is  in  the  reader's  hands,  I  trust  that  the  lower 
suite  will  be  entirely  restored  and  added  to  the  past  glories 
of  the  Reggia. — 

I    had    not,    upon    my    long    round,    visited    either    the 
church  or  the  Castello,  because  they  are  the  sole  buildings 
still   remaining  detached   from   the  control  of   the   national 
government, —  S.    Barbara    being    yet    in    Roman    Catholic 
hands  and  used  for  public  worship,  and  the  Castle  being  still 
retained  by  the  city  authorities,  for  the  storage  of  archives, 
etc.     Both  however  can  be  visited,  but  separately.     To  reach 
them  I  repaired  one  morning  to  the  triumphal  archway  al- 
ready mentioned,  just  beyond  the  hanging  garden;  this  was 
erected  under  Giulio's  designs  in  the  first  generation  of  the 
cinquecento, —  except  for  the  top  storey,  subsequently  added. 
Upon   the  walls  of  its  arched  passage   I   noticed  a  similar 
scheme  of  decoration  to  that  which  he  used  in  the  Sala  dei 
Cavalli  of  the  Palazzo  del  Te, —  stuccoed  composite  columns 
and   lions'   heads,   and   paintings   of  which   but   traces   now 
remained.     It  debouched  into  the  western  angle  of  the  huge 
Piazza  Castello, —  a  deserted,  silent,  dreary  and  crumbling 
quadrangle,  paved  with  grass-grown  cobbles,  surrounded  by 
the  doric  arcades  which  Duke  Guglielmo  erected  about  1580. 
In  the  middle  of  the  northeast  side  they  bayed  out  into  a 
wide  exedra,  over  which  rose  the  square,  ponderous  towers 


508  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

of  the  Castle.  The  entrance  to  the  latter  commenced  at 
the  rear  of  the  semicircle,  which  communicated  directly  with 
the   southwestern   bridge   across   the  moat. 

I  proceeded  first,  however,  to  the  church,  crossing  the 
square  to  its  southern  corner,  where  a  passage  beneath  the 
covered  corridor  to  the  castle  admitted  me  to  the  northwestern 
end  of  the  forecourt,  or  Piazza,  of  S.  Barbara.  This  semi- 
circular space,  still  more  grass-grown  and  deserted,  was 
bounded  by  a  two-storied  structure  of  yellow  stucco,  on 
filled-in,  rusticated  arches,  over  which  extended  the  en- 
closed corridor  already  mentioned ;  far  above  it  rose  the  ugly 
brick  walls  of  the  Paradiso  palace  on  the  south.  The  fagade 
of  the  church  to  left  was  a  hideous  rococo  edifice,  with  dis- 
torted window-frames,  and  two-storied,  yellow  pilasters  upon 
a  greenish  body;  in  pleasing  contrast  with  which  soared 
the  beautiful,  red-brick  campanile  at  its  farther  angle,  in  the 
purer  style  of  the  earlier  Renaissance.  At  the  court's  south- 
ern corner  a  long  dark  passage  beneath  the  Paradiso  building 
led  me  into  the  Piazza  Paradiso,  and  the  vast  quadrangle  of 
the  Lega  Lombardo  {del  Pallone)  adorned  in  its  centre  by 
a  double  circle  of  shade-trees. 

Turning  back  to  the  church,  I  was  admitted  by  the  sacris- 
tan at  a  side  door,  and  found  myself  shortly  in  its  spacious, 
vaulted  nave  of  cream-coloured  stucco, —  rococo  in  all  its 
lines.  Over  the  front  vestibule  I  observed  a  large  balcony, 
which  was  often  used  for  band-music  in  former  days.  There 
were  no  aisles,  but  the  nave  was  first  flanked  by  a  couple 
of  chapels,  then  extended  freely  to  the  side-walls  with  the 
effect  of  a  transept;  beyond  this  came  another  couple  of 
chapels,  and  then  the  deep,  slightly  elevated  choir.  Above 
the  first  chapels  and  the  sides  of  the  tribune  were  four  closed 
boxes,  entered  from  the  corridors  of  the  Reggia  and  used 
formerly    by    the    habitues   of    the   court;    that    to    left    of 


MANTUA  THE  MAGNIFICENT  509 

the  choir  —  I  was  told, —  faced  by  latticed  glass  casements 
opening  inward,  was  the  box  of  the  ducal  family.  It  was 
all  especially  interesting  as  being  the  only  precinct  of  the 
palace-city  continuing  inviolate  from  the  Gonzaga  times; 
and  there  still  remained  here  many  of  the  artistic  gifts  given 
by  the  various  princes  of  the  house.  Nearly  all  the  light 
descended  from  two  domes,  one  over  the  tribune  and  the 
other  above  the  nave  at  its  widest  part;  these  reminded  me 
of  the  purposes  for  which  Guglielmo  chiefly  erected  the  edi- 
fice,—  to  provide  an  imposing  though  private  setting  for  the 
family  marriages,  baptisms,  funerals,  etc.;  and  the  double 
cupolas  were  designed  for  throwing  floods  of  light  upon  the 
parties  engaged  in  the  ceremonies,  or  the  magnificent  cata- 
falques occupying  the  centre  of  the  floor. 

At  the  entrance  to  the  choir  hung  a  splendid  relic  from  the 
treasury  of  ducal  gifts,  a  beautiful  silver  lamp  of  the  cinque- 
cento,  ornamented  with  open-work,  and  human  figures  in 
relievo;  below  it  stretched  a  gorgeous  bronze  balustrade,  with 
Hermes  for  balusters,  crowned  with  busts  of  the  Saviour  and 
various  saints.  A  number  of  good  paintings  also  remained: 
one  by  Luigi  Costa  in  the  first  chapel  to  right ;  two  over  the 
transept-altars  by  Lorenzo  Costa  and  his  name-sake  son;  a 
most  realistic  Last  Supper  by  Andreasino  in  the  second  chapel 
to  left ;  a  couple  of  saints  and  an  Annunciation  by  Lor.  Costa 
upon  the  organ-doors;  and  a  martyrdom  of  S.  Barbara  by 
Brusasorci,  over  the  high-altar.  The  oak  stalls  behind  the 
latter  were  elegantly  carved,  with  lifelike  and  graceful 
scenes  from  sacred  history, —  a  seicentist  work.  In  the  sa- 
cristy to  right  I  was  shown  a  very  fine  bronze  crucifix,  of 
most  vivid  expression,  and  a  number  of  exceptional  pieces  of 
goldsmiths'  work.  In  a  room  on  the  left  I  saw  an  admir- 
able wardrobe  bestowed  by  the  present  King  of  Italy,  with 
panels  of  remarkable  tarsia  representing  well-known  paint- 


510  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

ings   of    Raphael,    Perugino,    Domenichino,    etc.,    besides   a 
wealth  of  arabesques,  bacchantes,  and  other  fancies. 

This  peculiar  church  has  always  had  a  special  service, 
missal  and  breviaries  of  its  own,  and  a  collegiate  chapter 
accountable  only  to  the  Pope,  whose  five  chief  dignitaries 
are  called  Conti  Palatini.  These  are  provided  by  the  en- 
dowment with  separate  dwellings,  and  every  one  of  the 
canons,  called  Apostolic  Protonotaries,  is  also  given  a  sep- 
arate apartment.  The  right  of  their  nomination  has  passed 
from  the  dukes  to  the  King  of  Italy. 

Returning  to  the  exedra  of  Piazza  Castello,  I  found  a 
woman  dwelling  in  some  adjacent  rooms  who  kept  the  keys 
to  the  castle,  and  she  led  me  across  the  covered  bridge  to  its 
main  hallway,  which  was  bare  and  desolate.  Neither  the 
ground-floor  rooms  nor  the  ancient  dungeons  were  to  be  seen, 
she  said,  being  occupied  by  city  archives;  and  but  two  rooms 
were  visible  on  the  first  floor.  Passing  the  foot  of  Giuilo's 
staircase,  we  mounted  a  small  stairway  adjacent,  to  the  upper 
hall:  it  was  a  typical  mediaeval  castle-stairway,  narrow  and 
winding,  and  I  wondered  how  many  thousand  times  Isa- 
bella's feet  had  pressed  these  same  stones,  in  her  30  years 
of  residence  here ;  —  the  Scala  Santa,  Italians  sometimes  call 
it,  because  by  it  those  hundreds  of  patriot-prisoners  mounted 
to  their  cells,  and  the  Martyrs  of  Belfiore  descended  to  their 
execution.  At  the  front  end  of  the  upper  hallway  we  en- 
tered the  long  spacious  chamber  extending  across  the  eastern 
facade  from  one  corner-tower  to  the  other,  looking  upon  the 
moat  and  lake  through  four  or  five  plain  windows ;  this  main 
salon  of  the  piano  nobile  was  the  living-room  of  the  old 
nuptial  suite, —  Isabella's  private  drawing-room  during  those 
first  three  decades  of  her  married  life.  Of  its  then  decora- 
tions naught  now  remained  but  some  faded  grotesques  upon 
the  lofty  vaulting. 


MANTUA  THE  MAGNIFICENT  511 

At  its  right  endj  next  to  the  southern  tower,  the  small 
square  turret  projects  from  the  front,  within  which  Isabella 
formed  her  Studiolo:  a  little  cubicle  lighted  by  a  single  win- 
dow, and  entered  by  an  ordinary  doorway.  When  the  young 
bride,  in  the  year  following  her  marriage,  took  possession 
of  this  recess  to  make  a  private  retreat,  Mantegna,  we  know, 
was  ordered  to  decorate  it  at  her  direction ;  but  of  his  labour 
only  a  few  traces  yet  linger, —  some  fragments  of  frescoing 
about  the  sides  and  lintel  of  the  window,  including  two 
heads  in  chiaroscuro  that  are  clearly  of  his  manner,  and 
probably  formed  portions  of  large  compositions.  His  work 
upon  the  vaulting  was  hidden  by  a  subsequent,  arched, 
wooden  ceiling,  attributed  to  Ant.  and  Paolo  della  Mola, 
now  in  a  ruinous  state;  its  repeated  devices  of  Isabella  — 
the  musical  notes  and  the  playing  cards  —  indicate  its  con- 
struction in  her  declining  years,  probably  when  the  Palazzina 
was  built  just  across  the  moat,  in  1531,  and  this  recess 
became  but  an  entrance-passage.  The  redecoration  then 
made  by  Giulio  has  mostly  disappeared,  along  with  the  earlier 
work,  owing  to  the  room's  350  years  of  use  as  a  corridor. 
It  was  only  about  5  years,  from  1491  to  '96,  that  Isabella's 
inchoate  collection  was  housed  here,  for  in  the  latter  year  it 
was  removed  to  the  Grotta;  but  until  her  husband's  death 
this  remained  her  private  retreat,  furnished  with  her  few 
most  cherished  treasures. 

Returning  across  the  large  salon  I  entered  the  northern 
tower-chamber,  the  famous  Camera  degli  Sposi, —  and 
stood  delighted  at  the  wondrous  preservation  of  Mantegna's 
great  frescoes,  that  cover  its  walls  and  ceiling.  I  saw  a 
perfectly  square  room,  perhaps  7J/2  yards  in  diameter,  lighted 
by  a  couple  of  plain,  oblong  windows  next  the  northern  and 
western  angles,  covered  by  a  flat  vaulting  about  15  feet 
high,  whose  groinings  so  descended  as  to  form  three  large 


512  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

lunettes  on  each  side.  These  lunettes  held  medallions  draped 
by  festoons,  in  which  upon  blue  ground  were  painted  a  lion, 
a  dog,  and  various  emblems  of  the  family.  The  intervening 
concave  pendentives  contained  eight  pieces  of  chiaroscuro 
truly  marvellous  in  their  tactile  values,  grace,  and  natural- 
ness, which  alone  would  rank  Mantegna  amongst  the  greatest 
artists  of  Earth.  The  design  of  each  was  in  general  points 
the  same:  a  central  medallion  like  a  coin,  from  whose  ground 
of  fine  gold  mosaic  seemingly  protrudes  the  boldly  modelled 
bust  of  a  Roman  Emperor,  his  curled  locks  bound  with  a 
wreath,  his  powerful  shoulders  clad  in  scale-armour:  im- 
aginary, idealised  heads,  of  superb  and  lifelike  moulding,  and 
vigorous,  expressive  individuality;  the  medallion  being  en- 
closed by  a  projecting  circular  garland  of  leaves  and  fruits, 
tied  at  the  sides  and  top  by  three  ribbons  whose  flying  ends 
are  interlaced  in  charming  convolutions;  its  bottom  supported 
by  a  standing  cherub  of  the  most  perfect  beauty  and  mod- 
elling,—  so  real,  so  tangible,  that  the  observer  longs  to  seize 
his  lovely  little  form  from  its  corbel.  The  deception  of 
solidity  here  is  the  most  absolute  I  have  ever  seen ;  but,  un- 
fortunately, most  of  the  Caesarian  heads,  which  run  from 
Julius  to  Otho,  are  so  badly  faded  as  to  lessen  their  effect, — 
only  that  of  Tiberius,  above  the  front  window  and  not 
exposed  to  the  direct  light,  having  retained  its  original  dis- 
tinctness. 

The  triangular  spaces  directly  over  the  lunettes  contain 
each  two  or  three  mythological  figures,  such  as  Hercules, 
Apollo,  Orpheus,  etc.,  likewise  in  chiaroscuro,  and  sur- 
rounded by  flying  ribbons.  The  beauty  of  all  this  monotone 
is  exceedingly  increased  by  its  golden  background.  The  flat 
of  the  ceiling  enclosed  by  it  has  a  simulated  framework  of 
ornate  white  beams,  four  of  which  form  the  large,  square, 
central  panel,  placed  diagonally  with  the  walls;  and  within 


MANTUA  THE  MAGNIFICENT  513 

this  glows  the  chief  feature,  in  hues  still  gay, —  Mantegna's 
celebrated  well-perspective,  looking  upward,  which  was  prob- 
ably the  first  of  the  endless  line  of  such  decorations.  Gazing 
skyward,  one  sees  a  circular  parapet  of  marble  open-work, 
roundabout  which  gambol  eight  charming  putti, —  three  clam- 
bering round  the  inside,  three  perched  on  the  top  railing,  and 
two  thrusting  their  pretty  heads  through  the  apertures;  the 
foreshortening  of  the  standing  forms  is  wonderful.  Also 
upon  the  top  railing,  outlined  against  the  sky  of  fleecy  clouds, 
one  sees  at  opposite  sides  a  peacock  and  a  pot  of  roses,  and 
between  them,  leaning  over  and  looking  down,  five  feminine 
heads,  very  natural  and  pleasing.  One  is  a  negress-attendant, 
two  are  evidently  serving-maids,  a  fourth  is  a  young  lady 
with  pretty  face  and  glossy,  dark  hair,  smiling  merrily,  and 
the  fifth  is  doubtless  the  Marchesa  Barbara,  Lodovico's  con- 
sort,—  wearing  her  customary  white  coif,  and  having  her 
tresses  bound  with  pearl-strings  and  studded  with  jewels; 
she  was  of  this  comely  middle  age  when  Lodovico  had  the 
work  done,  1462-74,  and  the  Teutonic  cast  of  features  is 
practically  the  same  that  we  behold  in  her  portrait-figure  on 
the  northwest  wall.  The  younger  lady  must  have  been  one 
of  her  daughters. 

Magnificent,  however,  as  is  all  this  ceiling-painting,  it  is 
little  in  comparison  with  the  great  frescoes  on  the  walls. 
The  larger  of  the  two  famous  tableaux  covers  the  northwest 
side,  above  the  mantel;  it  represents  probably  an  event  of 
the  year  1462, —  the  return  to  the  court  of  Lodovico's  eldest 
son,  Federigo,  after  his  alleged  flight  and  concealment  in 
Naples  to  avoid  the  marriage  with  Margherita  of  Bavaria.29 

29  A  few  authorities  insist  the  scene  here  portrayed  was  the  ar- 
rival of  envoys  sent  in  1474  by  the  Duke  of  Wurtemburg  to  ask  the 
hand  of  Lodovico's  daughtei  Barbara.  Many  things  absolutely  dis- 
prove this:  Barbara  and  Lodovico  the  younger  are  seen  to  be  chil- 


5i4  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

The  many  lifesize  figures  are  known  to  be  faithful  portraits, 
executed  with  Mantegna's  scrupulous  accuracy  and  realism; 
consequently  the  males  exhibit  the  noted  Gonzaga  ugliness, 
—  but  this  is  redeemed  by  a  manliness  of  form,  a  dignity  of 
carriage,  a  nobility  and  intelligence  of  expression,  that  invest 
the  characters  with  a  positive  charm.  The  composition  is  a 
masterpiece  of  naturalness  combined  with  pleasing  effects. 
It  is  divided  into  two  parts:  on  the  left  we  see  the  expectant 
family  scattered  informally  upon  a  sunny  terrace,  surrounded 
by  courtiers;  on  the  right  we  see  Federigo  mounting  the 
shadowy  stairs  with  his  companions,  and  welcomed  by  a 
couple  of  friends  at  the  top. 

The  comfortable-looking  form  of  the  Marchesa  Barbara 
centres  the  family  group,  with  her  two  youngest  children, 
Barbara  and  Lodovico,  standing  at  her  right  knee,  and  her 
favourite  dwarf,  the  tiny  spouse  of  Franceschino,  dignifiedly 
erect  upon  the  other  side;  to  left  of  the  children,  and  nearest 
the  observer,  sits  Lodovico  II  in  a  simple  fur-trimmed  gown, 
turning  his  strong,  smooth-shaven  face  to  speak  to  a  chamber- 
lain behind  his  right  shoulder, —  his  secretary,  Andreasi,  who 
has  evidently  just  handed  him  a  letter.  Behind  the  ducal 
couple  stand  half-a-dozen  courtiers,  doubtless  intimate 
friends;  on  the  right  stand  the  just-grown  sons,  Rodolfo 
and  Gianfrancesco,  aged  about  17  and  18  years,  clad  in 
long-hose  and  fur-edged,  satin  doublets,  looking  expectantly 
toward  the  stairs;  their  youthful  ages  alone  prove  the  date 
of  the  scene  represented.     Between  them  and  the  others  the 

dren  at  the  mother's  knee;  the  newcomer  is  no  grave  ambassador, 
but  a  joyous  young  prince;  and  it  is  a  family  reunion  that  awaits 
him,  not  a  formal,  ducal  reception. —  Again,  as  still  others  claim,  it 
may  be  that  this  is  a  scene  of  no  historical  event  whatever,  but 
simply  a  portrait-group  of  the  family.  Be  that  as  it  may;  the  dif- 
ferent figures  and  the  epoch  are  identified,  which  is  all  we  care 
about. 


MANTUA  THE  MAGNIFICENT  515 

eldest  daughter  Susanna  is  visible  in  rear,  talking  with  an 
old  nurse.  Nothing  could  exceed  the  realism  and  individu- 
ality of  all  these  forms,  marked  with  their  respective  charac- 
ters. Behind  them  are  observed  the  tops  of  the  tall  potted 
shrubs  of  the  terrace,  and  its  confining  marble  wall.  The 
scene  upon  the  stairway  is  equally  realistic;  its  participants 
are  all  young  men,  clad  like  the  brothers  mentioned ;  and  the 
welcome  of  the  friend,  the  joy  of  the  returned  wanderer,  are 
clearly  depicted. 

On  the  southwest  wall  Andrea  portrayed  another,  similar, 
domestic  event,  which  occurred  10  years  after  the  last  scene, 
—  the  return  in  1472  of  the  second  son,  Cardinal  Francesco, 
fresh  from  his  elevation  to  that  rank  in  Rome;  to  welcome 
him,  the  first  of  the  Gonzaghi  to  reach  that  powerful  posi- 
tion —  so  important  to  all  of  the  family, —  his  father  and 
brothers  have  gone  forth  some  way  into  the  country.  Fran- 
cesco stands  in  the  centre  of  the  group,  tall  and  broad- 
shouldered  in  his  priestly  cape  and  vestments,  his  ugly  but 
fascinating  features  illumined  by  the  fire  of  that  learning 
and  keen  intelligence  which  brought  him  to  such  distinction 
as  a  churchman  and  a  connoisseur.  His  father  stands  at  the 
left,  conversing  with  him,  and  his  eldest  brother  Federigo 
at  the  right, —  the  same  Federigo,  somewhat  older  and 
stouter,  who  mounted  the  stairs  before;  between  them  is  the 
youngest  brother,  Lodovico,  now  a  youth  of  15  and  already 
in  priestly  garb, —  in  whom  it  is  interesting  to  note  the  very- 
same  pinched  features  that  he  showed  as  a  boy  of  five  in  the 
first  scene.  He  was  probably  a  hunchback,  like  his  sister 
Susanna, —  in  whom  the  deformity  was  discernible  in  her 
unnaturally  short  waist.  Behind  him  are  seen  the  straight 
martial  figures  of  Rodolfo  and  Gianfrancesco,  whose  faces 
are  the  same  as  before,  but  clearly  a  decade  older ;  they  were 
splendid   soldiers,   and   the   former  was  killed   at   Fornovo. 


516  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

The  younger  Lodovico  holds  a  couple  of  children  by  the 
hand,  lads  about  four  and  six  years  of  age, —  charming  little 
figures  in  their  silk  hose  and  fillet-bound  hair ;  they  are  the 
results  of  the  marriage  of  Federigo  and  Margherita, —  Sigis- 
mondo,  destined  to  be  the  second  Gonzaga  cardinal,  and 
Gianfrancesco,  the  future  Marquis  and  husband  of  Isa- 
bella. 

Amidst  the  throng  of  persons  in  the  background  the  head 
of  Mantegna  himself  is  prominent,  between  Federigo  and 
Gianfrancesco  the  elder;  it  is  the  strong,  resolute,  closely 
shaven  face  of  a  man  of  40  years  who  has  accomplished 
great  things, —  with  square  jaws,  obstinate  chin,  firm  straight 
mouth  and  prominent  nose, —  the  same  face,  nevertheless, 
that  I  saw  in  the  youth  of  23  portrayed  in  the  Eremetani 
at  Padua.  But  here  is  a  still  more  interesting  character, — 
the  strange  young  man  of  20,  with  large  nose  and  long  chin, 
who  is  clearly  revealed  between  the  Marquis  and  the  Car- 
dinal: it  can  be  no  other  than  Politian,  who  arrived  with 
Francesco  (and  Alberti)  on  this  occasion,  and  who  had 
just  attained  that  age.  To  celebrate  the  home-coming  he 
composed  within  two  days  his  celebrated  poem  "  Orfeo," 
which,  as  Symonds  says,  ranks  among  the  most  important 
poems  of  the  15th  century.  Andrea  therefore  would  not 
have  left  him  out  of  the  scene.  In  rear  of  the  whole  group 
rises  a  vast  mountain-side,  on  whose  slopes  is  depicted  a 
fanciful  picture  of  the  Eternal  City  surrounded  by  its  walls, 
marked  as  such  by  its  ruined  temples,  baths,  and  Coliseum, 
—  a  reminder  of  the  Cardinal's  sojourn. —  This  remarkable 
tableau  was  painted  by  Andrea  in  1474;  the  other,  there- 
fore, must  have  been  done  a  full  decade  earlier,  to  account 
for  its  accurate  portraits  of  the  same  persons  when  childish 
and  less  mature. 

To  the  left  of  the  group  of  personages,  separated  by  a 


MANTUA  THE  MAGNIFICENT  517 

pilaster,  appear  the  horses  on  which  the  cardinal  has  arrived 
and  the  princes  have  ridden  forth,  with  the  grooms  watching 
them,  and  a  pack  of  the  inevitable  dogs, —  extraordinary  in 
their  lifelikeness ;  behind  them  continues  the  imposing  moun- 
tainous landscape,  picturesquely  diversified  by  cliffs,  vales, 
crags,  woods,  and  castles  perched  on  pinnacles.  To  left  of 
this  again,  over  the  doorway  in  that  wall,  are  seen  a  number 
of  most  delightful  and  natural  cherubs,  upholding  an  inscrip- 
tion which  testifies  that  Mantegna  was  the  artist.  Through 
all  these  scenes  the  colours,  though  much  faded  from  their 
original  bright  lustre,  are  properly  varied  and  blended,  and 
of  a  pleasing  softness. —  On  the  other  two  walls  are  frescoed 
imitations  of  tapestry,  of  a  later  date. 

When  this  room  was  Isabella's  bedchamber,  her  husband 
occupied  the  suite  directly  below,  with  which  a  private  stair- 
way connected;  his  tower-room,  the  Camera  del  Sole,  is 
still  painted  on  its  vaulting  with  the  sunburst  and  golden 
ribbons,  and  upon  its  spandrels  and  lunettes  with  the  various 
other  Gonzaga  mottoes  and  devices,  which  were  placed  there 
under  Francesco  II,  before  1444. —  Of  all  the  work  that  was 
done  upon  the  Castello  by  Giulio,  Primaticcio,  Leonbruno 
and  Lor.  Costa,  there  seems  to  be  naught  remaining  (aside 
from  the  Studiolo)  but  a  few  bits  of  faded  arabesques  and 
crumbling  stucchi  in  two  or  three  chambers  on  the  southern 
side  of  this  floor,  and  in  several  camerini  di  bagno  on  the 
western  side,  decorated  with  painted  stucco-panelling. —  I 
climbed  the  stairs  again,  to  the  upper  floor,  and  traversed 
slowly,  thoughtfully,  its  long  series  of  prison-cells  hallowed 
by  patriotic  memories.  The  bedrooms  of  an  earlier  age  had 
been  cut  up  by  the  Austrians  into  dozens  of  brick-walled 
cubicles,  with  iron-studded  doors  and  barred  windows  closed 
by  heavy  shutters;  according  to  size,  they  held  one  or  more 
prisoners,  and  the  topmost  tower-chambers  were  large  enough 


518  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

for  a  dozen.  Gone  was  all  their  miserable  furniture,  but  the 
sad  memories  lingered  in  the  writings  upon  the  walls, — 
names,  appeals,  verses,  sighs  of  resignation,  death-bed  cries 
for  Italy's  freedom. 

I  saw  the  mean  cells  where  the  noble  young  Tito  Speri 
and  the  other  Martyrs  of  Belfiore  awaited  their  doom. 
With  particular  interest  also  I  observed  that  of  Felice  Or- 
sini,  from  which  he  made  his  marvellous  escape  in  1856: 
with  a  file  that  had  been  smuggled  to  him  in  food  he  cut  the 
window-bars,  and  lowered  himself  from  this  dizzy  height 
by  a  frail  rope  made  of  ravellings  from  a  sheet  and  his  under- 
clothes; the  fall  into  the  dry  moat  from  its  too  short  end 
badly  injured  his  leg,  but  a  couple  of  patriotic  peasants,  pass- 
ing at  daybreak,  heard  his  low  cries  for  help,  pulled  him  out, 
and  carried  him  to  their  home.30  Thence,  at  the  risk  of 
their  own  lives,  he  was  smuggled  by  night-travelling  into 
Switzerland.  The  final  result  was  that  terrible  attempt 
upon  the  life  of  Napoleon  III,  two  years  later,  when  Orsini 
and  three  companions,  crazed  with  rage  at  the  Emperor's  ap- 
parent refusal  to  help  Italy,  threw  at  his  carriage  those  three 
frightful  bombs  which  killed  10  persons  and  injured  156. — 
"  When  we  Italians  consider," —  cried  D'Azelio, — "  had 
Orsini  succeeded!  —  This  subject  makes  my  hair  stand  on 
end.  Let  us  thank  God  that  he  did  not." 31  The  mis- 
guided patriot's  last  thoughts  before  the  guillotine  were  of 
his  beloved  land : 

"  Condemned  I  die,  by  one  who  once  conspired 
With  me,   and  stood  behind  while  I  struck.  ' 

Where  are  the  Gracchi  ?  —  Are  they  set, 

30  Vide   Felice    Orsini's   Autobiography,    and   his   "  Austrian    Dun- 
geons "  ;   also  J.  W.  Mario's  "  Birth  of  Modern  Italy,"  page  257. 

31  Massimo  D'Azelio's  "  My  Recollections," 


MANTUA  THE  MAGNIFICENT  519 

Never  to  rise  again  ?  No,  there  remain 
For  Italy,  brave  guides  to  lead  her  sons 
In  the  right  path,  altho'  its  end  be  death."  88 

32  Walter  Savage  Landor. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  PALAZZO  DEL  TE,  SABBIONETA,  AND  ENVIRONS  OF 
MANTUA 

"Look  downward  where  an  hundred  realms  appear  — 
Lakes,  forests,  cities,  plains  extending  wide, 
The  pomp  of  kings,   the   shepherd's  humbler  pride." 

Goldsmith's   "  Traveller." 

"  Giulio  Romano's  Palazzo  del  Te  at  Mantua,"  said 
Symonds,  "  may  be  cited  as  the  most  perfect  production  of 
this  epoch,  combining,  as  it  does,  all  the  forms  of  antique 
decoration  and  construction  with  the  vivid  individuality  of 
genius.  Giulio  Romano  comprehended  the  antique,  and 
followed  it  with  the  enthusiasm  of  a  neophyte.  His  very 
defects  prevented  him  from  falling  into  the  frigid  formalism 
of  Palladio."  x  "  In  the  palace  of  the  Te,"  wrote  Forsyth, 
"  he  assembled  all  the  graces  —  he  left  on  the  very  archi- 
tecture a  congenial  stamp."  2 

To  grasp  the  reason  for  the  supreme  position  of  this  won- 
derful, ideal  villa  of  the  Renaissance,  we  have  only  to  re- 
member that  it  was  fathered  by  one  of  the  very  few  most 
cultured  and  magnificent  sovereigns  of  that  era,  who  knew 
enough  to  give  his  artist  carte  blanche,  and  spared  no  ex- 
pense whatsoever;  that  it  was  builded  at  the  very  apex  of 
the  neo-classic  revival,  just  before  the  decadence  commenced ; 
and  most  of  all,  that  its  unfettered  creator  was  that  genius 
who  above  all  the  great  masters  was  perfectly  fitted  to  con- 
struct such  a  supreme  shrine  to  Beauty  and  Pleasure, —  which 

1  J.  A.   Symonds'  "  Fine  Arts." 

2  Forsyth's  "Excursions  into  Italy"   (1801). 

520 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  MANTUA  521 

was  man's  highest  attempt  to  embody  his  age-long  dreams 
of  summer  palaces  in  Elysian  gardens.  Even  in  its  own  day, 
when  Tuscany,  the  Veneto,  and  the  Milanese  were  filled 
with  splendid  classic  villas  all  striving  for  that  ideal,  the  Te 
was  unequalled  for  its  combination  of  charms:  its  setting  was 
a  royal  park  of  majestic  glades  and  vistas,  its  size  was  im- 
posing, its  architecture  was  one  of  the  grandest  efforts  of 
the  Greek  revival,  its  regal  suites  of  lofty  halls  were  spa- 
cious and  impressive,  its  surrounding  pleasaunces  were  gar- 
dens whose  shrubberies,  marbles  and  tinkling  fountains  would 
have  tempted  Bacchus  and  his  crew  of  satyrs  back  to  Earth. 
Yet  surpassing  all  these  beauties  was  that  superb  scheme  of 
decoration  on  which  the  enthusiastic  Giulio  poured  forth 
all  the  most  brilliant  fancies  of  his  rich  imagination,  all  his 
fondest  dreams  of  Olympian  graces  and  grandeur,  transport- 
ing these  noble  halls  and  porticoes  to  the  realms  of  Arcady 
and  Parnassus. 

Giulio  had  his  faults,  but  after  all  they  were  insignificant 
beside  his  mighty  powers, —  his  largeness  of  vision,  his  gran- 
deur of  conception,  his  keenness  in  realising  his  glorious 
fancies,  with  their  enchanting  combinations  of  form  and 
line  and  colour;  architecture,  sculpture,  painting,  mosaics, 
were  all  splendidly  handled  and  sublimely  blended,  with  a 
masterful  touch  that  struck  from  the  various  instruments  one 
pasan  of  joyous,  triumphant  harmony.  No  other  genius  of 
the  Renaissance  was  so  perfectly  adapted  to  realise  this  em- 
bodiment of  the  classic  pleasure-ideal;  and  no  other  had  this 
perfect  opportunity. 

If  such  was  the  position  of  the  Te  in  that  wonder-working 
age,  how  much  more  unique  is  it  today,  when,  amidst  the 
crumbling  into  ruin  and  desolation  of  nearly  all  that  host 
of  rural  palaces,  it  remains  preserved  to  us  as  by  a  miracle, — 
its  walls  still   intact,   its  suites  unaltered,   its   noble   salons 


522  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

still  radiant  in  their  glories  of  frescoing  and  sculpture. 
Through  them,  as  nowhere  else,  we  walk  beside  Isabella, 
Bembo,  Castiglione,  and  all  the  intellectual  giants  of  man- 
kind's rebirth,  beholding  with  our  own  eyes  this  unchanged, 
classic  fairyland  in  which  they  moved  inspired.  We  miss 
only  the  minor,  replaceable  details, —  the  gold  and  white 
furniture,  the  silks  and  tapestries,  the  crowd  of  priceless 
objets  d'artj  the  ordered  shrubberies  and  marbles  of  the  gar- 
dens. 

The  Te  is  situated  immediately  south  of  the  city,  closely 
beyond  the  Porta  Posterla  in  the  middle  of  the  southern 
wall.  Here,  amidst  the  extensive  swamps  that  from  time 
immemorial  hemmed  in  and  protected  the  town,  Francesco 
Gonzaga  IV  took  notice,  about  1400,  of  a  considerable 
stretch  of  land  somewhat  elevated  above  the  water,3  and 
constructed  upon  it  a  sort  of  stock-farm  for  his  horses.  The 
stables  were  enlarged  and  bettered  by  the  subsequent  mar- 
quises, until  Federigo  II,  in  1525,  conceived  the  idea  of 
adding  a  pleasure-house  for  the  delight  of  his  mistress,  Isa- 
bella Boschetti, —  a  rural  retreat  amongst  the  woods,  to 
which  they  and  a  few  companions  could  retire  at  will  and 
enjoy  themselves  free  from  the  restrictions  of  the  court. 
The  task  he  entrusted  to  Giulio  Romano,  who  but  three  years 
previously  had  been  brought  to  him  by  Castiglione.  Giulio, 
using  his  unfettered  opportunity,  soon  produced  a  small 
structure  so  full  of  beauty  and  promises  of  greater  things, 
that  Federigo  caught  fire  from  the  enthusiasm  of  the  master, 
and  ordered  him  to  go  ahead  to  the  full  extent  of  his  desires. 
He  had  opened  the  Marquis's  eyes  to  a  new  and  plastic  ma- 
terial,—  in  a  word,  to  the  possibilities  of  stucco ;  though  he 
would   have  liked  to  build  of  stone,  yet,   there  being  none 

3  From  the  marshy  ground,  called  tejetto,  came  the  abbreviation 
Te,  or  The. 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  MANTUA  523 

easily  procurable,  Giulio  "  contented  himself  with  brick  and 
other  substitutes," — says  Vasari — "which  he  covered  with 
stucco,  and  out  of  these  materials  made  columns,  bases,  capi- 
tals, cornices,  doors,  and  windows,  all  in  the  most  perfect 
proportion  and  beautifully  decorated."  With  such  speed 
was  the  labour  pushed  —  for  Giulio  was  a  worker  of  unpar- 
alleled rapidity  —  that  by  1535  the  whole  magnificent  edifice 
was  completed, —  gardens,  sculptures,  paintings  and  all. 
Under  the  master  laboured  Primaticcio,  Pagni,  Scultori, 
Rinaldo  Mantovano,  Battista  his  brother,  and  a  dozen  lesser 
artists;  but  everything  had  been  done  under  Giulio's  own 
direction,  after  his  cartoons,  and  the  pictures  which  he  did 
not  paint  himself  had  been  gone  over  and  corrected  by  him 
before  they  were  dry. 

Federigo  and  his  successors  justly  appreciated  this  monu- 
ment of  art,  and  the  glory  which  it  brought  them ;  many  were 
the  great  fetes  held  in  it  during  the  following  200  years,  and 
it  was  the  special  scene  of  the  magnificence  of  Guglielmo 
and  Vincenzo  I,  for  whose  lavish  entertainments  it  afforded 
an  ideal  setting.  At  the  time  of  the  sack,  and  again  upon  the 
fall  of  the  last  Gonzaga  in  1708,  the  Te  suffered  despolia- 
tion and  considerable  injury.  Maria  Theresa  had  it  cleaned 
and  restored  in  1728;  in  1781  troops  were  again  quartered 
in  it,  and  also  during  the  following  era  of  the  Revolution ; 
finally,  in  the  second  Austrian  period,  it  was  once  more 
renovated,  and  the  frescoes  retouched.  Today  therefore  the 
paintings  of  Giulio  are  beheld  in  much  of  their  primeval 
brilliancy  and  decorative  effect,  but  the  subtleness  of  his 
colour-schemes,  his  finer  details,  his  faces  and  expression,  are 
in  great  part  obliterated.  After  the  Risorgi??iento  the  prop- 
erty was  acquired  by  the  Municipality  of  Mantua,  who  have 
ever  since  tended  the  palace  with  anxious  care,  letting  out 
to  private  tenants  only  that  portion  in  which  there  are  no 


524  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

artistic  remains.  They  replanted  with  trees  the  surrounding 
ground,  which  had  become  bare  during  the  convulsions  of 
the  preceding  century ;  so  that  now  we  see  the  great  villa 
in  somewhat  the  same  wooded  environment  that  it  had  in 
Gonzaga  days. 

The  way  to  it  lies  out  the  Via  Principe  Amadeo,  past  the 
ruinous  church  of  S.  Sebastiano, —  a  sufficiently  long  walk 
to  make  a  carriage  advisable  to  all  who  are  not  excellent 
pedestrians;  as  I  found  by  my  own  experience.  Beyond 
the  Porta  Pusterla,  however, —  which  is  no  longer  marked 
by  a  gateway, —  the  walk  was  pleasant  across  the  meadows : 
immediately  next  the  brick  city  wall,  sweeping  far  away  on 
each  hand  with  repeated  bastions,  a  small  stream  here  lin- 
gered in  the  ancient  fosse,  spanned  by  a  bridge  of  masonry; 
beyond  which  extended  the  drained  depression  of  50  or  60 
yards'  breadth,  crossed  by  the  road  upon  a  dyke.  Not  a 
house  nor  a  human  being  was  in  sight,  except  a  group  of 
women  washing  clothes  at  the  water's  edge.  Ahead  ap- 
peared the  tall  trees  of  the  park,  and  its  ornamental  gate- 
way of  yellow  stucco,  consisting  of  two  cubical  renaissance 
pavilions  topped  by  images  of  spread-eagles.  Within  this  I 
crossed  the  track  of  the  steam-tramway  to  Modena, —  whose 
station  and  yards  were  visible  to  the  right, —  and  kept  on 
down  the  highway  between  rows  of  splendid  plane-trees; 
other  imposing  planes  stretched  across  the  fields  in  noble 
avenues,  shading  glades  of  springy  turf.  But  quickly  the 
road  wheeled  to  the  left,  and  there,  behind  an  expanse  of 
lawn  crossed  by  a  driveway,  rose  the  beautiful  edifice  of 
the  Te. 

The  first  glance  was  disappointing, —  so  low  appeared  the 
structure,  and  so  simple  in  style;  but  it  was  the  simplicity 
of  true  grace,  and  its  two  storeys  in  reality  have  the  height 
of  four  of  today;  very  deceiving  is  the  effect  of  its  perfect 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  MANTUA  525 

proportions.  I  saw  an  immense  cube  of  yellow  Stucco, 
browned  in  spots  by  the  damp,  with  a  look  of  great  ponder- 
osity, even  majesty,  due  to  the  heavy  rustica  and  the  impress- 
iveness  of  its  doric  order.  Both  of  its  faces  (to  north  and 
west)  are  the  same:  a  lofty  triple  archway  pierces  the  mid- 
dle, framed  in  huge  blocks  of  radiating  rustica;  similar 
blocks  frame  the  rows  of  large  square-headed  windows  on 
each  side,  the  upper  ones  being  but  half  the  size  of  the  lower, 
and  square  in  shape;  these  pairs  are  separated  by  massive 
doric  pilasters  in  high  relief,  rising  from  bulky  bases  to  the 
doric  frieze;  the  latter  between  its  triglyphs  bears  reliefs  of 
arms,  musical  instruments,  helmets,  deer,  and  various  Gon- 
zaga  emblems;  and  the  dark  tiled  roof  slopes  but  slightly 
from  the  simple  cornice,  with  short  and  inconspicuous 
chimneys. 

To  east  from  the  main,  northern  facade  extends  a  long,  high 
wall  of  plainest  stucco,  enclosing  the  garden,  which  lies  upon 
that  side.  Advancing  to  the  principal  entrance,  I  rang  at 
the  single  doorway  beneath  its  portico,  and  on  being  admitted 
by  the  custode,  found  myself  in  another  graceful  portico 
looking  upon  the  central  cortile.  This  was  a  spacious  square 
filled  with  grass-plots  and  shrubbery,  intersected  by  two 
gravel-walks  at  right  angles;  formerly,  I  was  told,  it  was 
partly  marble-paved,  with  a  fountain;  and  the  surrounding 
walls  —  quite  similar  in  design  to  the  exterior  faces  —  bore 
then  long  rows  of  statues  in  the  now  empty  niches  between 
the  windows.  The  portico  itself  had  a  fine  coffered  vault- 
ing by  Rinaldo  Mantovano,  brightly  painted,  and  upon  its 
walls,  two  fanciful  landscapes  by  his  brother  Camillo,  ruined 
by  retouching;  while  the  lunettes  above  the  doorways  held 
a  couple  of  uninteresting  stucco  figures  of  doubtful  meaning. 
This  entrance-passage,  together  with  the  two  chambers 
at  its  sides,  was  the  first  part  of  the  whole  structure  raised 


526  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

by  Giulio,  whose  success  inspired  the  Marquis  to  authorise 
the  larger  work.  I  stepped  into  the  room  upon  the  right, 
behind  which  stretches  the  suite  occupied  by  the  custodian 
and  his  family:  here  were  the  first  of  Giulio's  frescoes,  two 
panels  in  the  centre  of  the  vaulting  with  representations  of 
Apollo  and  Diana  driving  their  chariots, —  gay  in  hue, 
graceful  in  outline,  and  happily  decorative.  The  surround- 
ing slopes  were  fashioned  by  white  stucco  mouldings  into 
diamond-shaped  coffers  of  pale  green,  which  set  forth  a  series 
of  individual  white  figures  by  Primaticcio, —  charming  mytho- 
logical deities,  in  flowing  robes.  It  is  no  wonder  that  Fed- 
erigo  was  delighted  by  this  work,  the  first  of  its  kind  that  he 
had  seen.  Around  the  walls  were  many  plaster  copies  of 
classic  reliefs  in  the  Museo  Civico,  brought  here  during  the 
second  Austrian  regime. —  The  remaining  rooms  on  this 
side  of  the  entrance,  occupied  by  the*  keeper,  have  no  decora- 
tions of  worth  now,  and  are  not  shown;  the  suites  adjacent 
on  the  west  of  the  court,  originally  bedrooms  and  private- 
chambers,  and  therefore  not  highly  ornamented,  have  like- 
wise no  present  interest,  and  are  let  to  respectable  tenants, 
who  enter  only  by  the  outer,  western  portal. 

The  public  halls  extend  east  from  the  front  entrance,  and 
along  the  whole  eastern  side  toward  the  garden,  rising 
mostly  to  the  full  height  of  the  palace,  and  lighted  both  from 
without  and  from  the  court ;  —  as  I  found  upon  now  enter- 
ing the  first  of  them,  the  lofty  Sala  dei  Cavalli.  This  spa- 
cious chamber,  immediately  to  left  of  the  portico,  was  the 
anticamera  and  guardroom,  where  the  ducal  body-guard 
kept  watch,  and  applicants  for  the  ducal  presence  were 
kept  waiting.  Its  richly  coffered  ceiling  is  coloured  in  gold 
and  green,  with  the  Gonzaga  device  of  Mt.  Olympus  painted 
in  the  panels;  its  frescoed  frieze,  of  charming  putti  inter- 
twined with  arabesques,  is  said  to  have  come  from  Giulio's 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  MANTUA  527 

own  hand ;  the  broad  walls  are  painted  with  an  architec- 
tural scheme  in  grisaille,  between  whose  coupled  columns 
stand  five  antique  statues  and  five  busts,  similarly  depicted; 
leaving  six  wider  apertures  or  bays  —  two  upon  each  side 
and  two  at  the  ends  —  in  which  stand  half-a-dozen  hand- 
some, lifesize  chargers,  in  their  natural  shades  of  chestnut 
and  white,  apparently  tied  by  their  bridles  to  the  ornamental 
pillars.  These  well-executed  animals,  from  the  brushes  of 
Ben.  Pagni  and  Rinaldo  Mantovano,  portray  the  favourite 
riding  horses  of  Duke  Federigo,  of  whose  points  he  was  very 
proud.  Here,  also,  and  in  several  of  the  succeeding  halls, 
I  noticed  many  small  figures  of  the  salamander,  usually  ac- 
companied by  the  motto,  "  Quod  huic  deest,  me  torquet  " : 
an  interesting  reference  to  the  original  cause  of  the  villa's 
erection,  indicating  that  the  fire  which  the  salamander  en- 
joyed was  consuming  the  Marquis, —  with  love  for  the  Bos- 
chetti. 

This  hall  is  so  long  that  its  successor  occupies  the  adja- 
cent corner  of  the  palace, —  a  large,  square  chamber,  frescoed 
from  end  to  end  and  over  the  whole  of  its  lofty  vaulting, 
the  famous  Sala  di  Psyche;  it  is  by  far  the  most  highly 
decorated  of  them  all.  And  the  fact  which  gives  it  beauty 
and  celebrity  is  that  Giulio  did  most  of  the  work  himself, 
using  Isabella  Boschetti  as  a  model  for  the  Psyche.  Here 
we  behold  him  at  his  best,  in  the  full  tide  of  his  luxurious 
and  splendour-loving  fancy;  for  his  huge,  magnificent  tab- 
leaux that  convert  the  walls  into  the  Elysian  bowers  of 
Olympus,  veritably  transporting  the  observer  to  the  nec- 
tareous  banquets  of  the  gods, —  have  been  so  little  damaged 
by  age  and  retouching  that  they  still  exhibit  most  of  their 
original  charm.  I  know  of  nothing  to  equal  this  wonderful 
chamber  in  -its  perfect  reproduction  of  the  ancient  spirit  that 
deified  the  beauties  of  nature  and  the  human  form, —  in  its 


528  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

utter  abandon  to  the  delights  of  the  senses;  and  the  theme 
is  realised  on  a  grandiose  scale  that  combines  dozens  of  fairy- 
like scenes  with  great  tableaux  of  gorgeous  brilliancy, — 
that  teems  with  loveliness  in  a  hundred  voluptuous  forms, 
set  in  landscapes  of  exotic  lustre. 

The  history  of  Psyche  commences  in  the  octagonal  coffers 
of  the  vaulting,  which  picture  her  early  days  with  her  wor- 
shipping parents,  her  seizure  by  Cupid,  their  happiness  to- 
gether, the  jealous  suggestion  of  her  sisters,  and  her  awaken- 
ing of  Cupid  by  viewing  him  with  a  light;  the  last  panel 
only  was  executed  by  Giulio  himself, —  a  beautiful  piece  of 
chiaroscuro-work,  with  lifelike,  graceful,  finely  moulded 
forms,  which  thoroughly  betray  the  loveliness  of  the  Bos- 
chetti.  All  the  rest  of  the  panels  were  done  by  Pagni  and 
Rinaldo;  but  many  of  them  also  contain  figures  of  ideal 
modelling,  charmingly  posed,  and  most  dramatically  expres- 
sive. The  square  central  coffer  is  said  by  some  critics  to  be 
Giulio's  work:  its  perspective  is  a  marvel,  depicting  Jupiter 
at  a  great  height,  hovering  directly  above  the  group  of 
deities  assisting  at  the  wedding,  and  blessing  Cupid  and 
Psyche  with  outstretched  hands;  the  whole  scene  being 
shrouded  in  phantom-like  clouds,  extending  upward  like  a 
funnel.  Roundabout  are  four  half-octagons,  holding  sepa- 
rate divinities  that  display  the  most  perfect  figures  in  the 
room;  these  are  surrounded  by  the  8  full  octagons  already 
mentioned, —  between  which  and  the  lunettes  intervene  a 
dozen  triangular,  curving  spaces,  filled  with  amoretti,  who 
are  frolicking  and  dancing  to  music  in  an  enchanting  manner 
that  none  but  Giulio  could  draw. 

His  method  of  thus  working  through  his  disciples,  which 
enabled  him  to  accomplish  so  much  in  a  short  time,  is  de- 
scribed by  Lanzi:  "  He  was  accustomed  himself  to  prepare 
the  cartoons,  and  afterwards,  having  exacted  from  his  pupils 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  MANTUA  529 

their  completion,  he  went  over  the  entire  work  with  his 
pencil,  and  removed  its  defects,  impressing  at  the  same  time 
upon  the  whole  the  stamp  of  his  own  superior  character. 
This  method  he  acquired  from  Raffaello."  4  It  accounts  for 
the  only  slight  difference  here  between  his  own  scenes  and 
those  painted  by  the  disciples.  The  effects  of  the  restorations 
are  obtruded  upon  the  attention  only  in  the  loss  of  Giulio's 
exquisite  colour-schemes,  which  are  overlaid  by  hues  somewhat 
violent  and  discordant;  how  lovely  his  original  tinting  was, 
we  may  see  in  his  arabesqued  gablnetti  in  the  palace  of  S. 
Sebastiano. 

From  the  octagons  Psyche's  story  is  continued  in  the  12 
large  lunettes,  in  which  we  behold  her  heroic  efforts  to  rejoin 
her  lost  lover;  we  see  her  repulsed  by  Juno,  by  Ceres,  de- 
scending into  Hades  to  seek  Proserpina,  stealing  the  lock 
of  golden  wool,  sifting  the  heap  of  sand,  etc.,  and  finally, 
brought  before  Venus,  who  consigns  her  to  torments  by  the 
Furies.  Cupid's  intercession  with  Jove,  and  the  latter's 
action  on  behalf  of  the  distressed  lovers,  are  not  depicted ; 
but  we  view  the  happy  result,  in  Giulio's  two  great  tableaux 
on  the  inner  walls,  which  cover  the  entire  spaces  between 
the  lunettes  and  the  tops  of  the  doors.  Beneath  them  ex- 
tends a  sort  of  stucco  wainscoting,  formerly  draped  with 
arras.  The  southern  picture  shows  the  nuptial  feast:  a  table 
loaded  with  gold  and  silver  plate  amidst  a  wide-stretching 
landscape  of  southern  aspect ;  an  ass,  a  camel  and  an  elephant 
standing  near,  that  are  supposed  to  have  conveyed  provisions; 
Bacchus,  Silenus,  Apollo,  and  other  deities  and  nymphs, 
crowding  around  the  board  to  sample  the  wine  and  edibles 
prepared;  Psyche  and  Cupid  reclining  on  a  couch  to  right, 
smiling  at  the  revellers  and  being  served  by  attendants. 
These  last  two  forms,  as  well  as  Apollo  and  Bacchus,  are  re- 

*  Lanzi's  "  History  of  Painting." 


530  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

markable   for  their  beauty,  and   the  care-free  joyousness  of 
their  expressions  and  attitudes. 

The  western  picture  shows  the  broad  table  now  spread 
with  snowy  cloth,  the  Graces  scattering  flowers  upon  it, 
satyrs  bringing  forth  viands,  nymphs  lending  assistance, 
and  fauns  disporting  with  goats;  while  Mercury  appears  at 
the  right  side,  to  announce  the  gods'  approaching  arrival. 
But  the  setting  here  is  different:  a  lovely  bower  of  roses 
backs  the  table,  with  a  vista  on  the  one  hand  of  distant 
rocky  peaks,  on  the  other  of  a  sunny  lake  amidst  idyllic 
slopes,  upon  whose  verge  recline  a  naiad  and  a  river-god. 
Over  the  rose-bower,  across  the  upper  part  of  the  triple 
openings  in  the  wall  of  the  seeming  portico  that  shades  the 
feast,  extend  two  lines  of  parallel  bars;  and  perched  upon 
these,  against  the  sky,  are  the  scene's  most  delightful  fea- 
ture,—  a  dozen  pretty  winged  cherubs,  gambolling  with  flow- 
ers, singing  merrily  to  the  music  of  an  orchestral  trio  in  the 
middle.  Nothing  more  charming  than  these  happy  babes 
could  be  imagined, —  the  same  charm  of  abandon  that  dis- 
tinguishes the  whole  theme,  and  which  must  have  communi- 
cated itself  to  the  real  diners  below,  in  those  countless  daz- 
zling banquets  that  were  given  here  by  the  Gonzaga  princes. 

Upon  the  walls  broken  by  windows  Giulio  placed  a  num- 
ber of  subsidiary  tableaux,  unconnected  with  Psyche's  story 
but  of  similar  erotic  spirit:  on  the  north  side  we  see  Mars 
and  Venus  in  the  bath,  Venus  and  Adonis  surprised  by 
Mars,  and  Bacchus  and  Ariadne  served  by  a  satyr;  on  the 
east  side  we  see  Jove  presenting  himself  to  Olympia  in  the 
form  of  a  dragon,  the  giant  Polyphemus,  and  Pasiphae  enter- 
ing the  wooden  cow  of  Daedalus.  All  are  from  Giulio's 
own  brush,  but  badly  damaged  by  the  restorers, —  only  the 
exquisite  group  of  Bacchus  and  Ariadne  retaining  its  original 
attractiveness. 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  MANTUA  531 

Turning  southward  here,  I  entered  the  smaller  Camera 
delle  Medaglie,  so  called  from  its  series  of  16  beautiful 
panels  of  stucco  reliefs  extending  around  beneath  the  vault- 
ing, representing  the  different  common  activities  of  life, — 
such  as  fishing,  dancing,  racing,  playing,  the  chase,  the  mar- 
ket, etc. ;  all  were  remarkably  well  done,  by  Scultori  and 
Mantoanello.  One  was  a  notable  exception  in  subject, —  a 
view  of  the  garden  of  the  Te  as  it  originally  appeared.  By 
the  same  hands  —  also,  of  course,  from  Giulio's  cartoons  — 
was  the  richly  coffered,  low  ceiling,  in  whose  squares  and 
hexagons  glistened  the  signs  of  the  zodiac  in  gilded  stucco, 
and  numerous  white  figures  of  history  and  mythology.  Un- 
der the  medallions  stretched  a  course  of  delicately  moulded 
festoons,  drooping  from  the  little  Hermes  that  supported  the 
springings  of  the  vaulting;  and  beneath  these  extended  the 
lovely  cornice,  luxuriantly  adorned  with  dainty  reliefs  and 
arabesques.  The  floor  here,  like  that  in  the  last  chamber 
and  in  several  others,  was  noteworthy  for-  being  the  original 
mosaic  pavement,  exceptionally  preserved. 

The  Sola  di  Fetonte  followed,  with  another  low  ceiling 
of  extraordinary  ornamentation, —  so  called  because  its  cen- 
tral, painted  panel  represents  Phaeton  falling  from  his  fiery 
chariot,  smitten  by  the  thunderbolt  from  Jove.  The  lower 
slopes  of  the  vaulting  hold  four  stucco-framed  lunettes,  each 
painted  by  Giulio  with  six  small  tableaux  of  exquisite  deli- 
cacy, representing  the  youth  of  different  gods;  above  these 
are  four  larger  frescoes  by  Giulio,  depicting  the  battles  of 
the  Naiads  and  the  Tritons,  the  Centaurs  and  the  Amazons ; 
between  them,  on  the  mid-slopes,  are  four  of  Primaticcio's 
finest  reliefs,  with  classic  subjects;  elsewhere  the  ceiling  is 
a  mass  of  painted  foliations  in  white  and  green,  interspersed 
with  more  than  200  tiny  amorini,  in  every  conceivable  pos- 
ture.    The  frieze  is  relieved  with  little  eagles  holding  fes- 


532  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

toons,  under  which  tapestries  formerly  depended,  and  over 
which  are  posed  a  row  of  antique  marble  busts  of  Roman 
empresses,  alternating  with  reliefs  of  Roman  trophies  and 
Gonzaga  arms.  The  handsome  doorways  are  of  pietrosanto, 
and  the  magnificent  mantel  is  of  Lucchessino  marble. 

Hence  I  stepped  into  the  central  portico  of  this  eastern 
side,  called  the  Grand  Atrium, —  which  is  one  of  the  most 
splendid  features  of  the  palace.  To  the  left  it  looks  upon  the 
neglected  garden  through  three  massive  archways,  with  cof- 
fered soffits,  upheld  by  quadruple  clusters  of  doric  columns; 
corresponding  to  these  clusters  are  heavy  piers  upon  the  en- 
closed court-side,  each  adorned  with  one  or  three  lifesize 
statues  in  niches;  and  from  columns  to  piers  circles  the  lofty 
vaulting,  frescoed  from  end  to  end  with  tableaux,  patterns 
and  arabesques,  said  to  have  been  executed  by  Giulio  himself. 
Three  large  scenes  extend  down  its  middle;  and  four  more 
occupy  the  lunettes  at  the  sides  and  ends, —  each  of  those 
over  the  end  doorways  being  surrounded  by  five  medallions  of 
stucco  reliefs  by  Primaticcio;  the  theme  of  all  these  tableaux 
is  the  life  of  David, —  whence  the  portico  is  often  called  the 
J  trio  di  Davide, —  and  the  subject  is  continued  on  a  series 
of  1 8  rectangular  panels  of  reliefs,  of  varying  length,  moulded 
in  stucco  and  painted  to  resemble  bronze,  which  extend 
around  the  three  walls  beneath  the  frieze.  Originally  these 
last  were  really  of  bronze,  but  having  been  carried  away  by 
the  French,  they  had  to  be  replaced  by  plaster  copies;  their 
artist  is  said  to  have  been  Degli  Orefici,  a  pupil  of  Cellini. 
Similarly,  the  14  statues  extending  roundabout  in  niches  — 
8  on  the  piers  of  the  inner  wall  and  3  on  each  end  wall 
beside  the  portal  —  were  originally  marbles  of  great  beauty, 
representing  divinities,  of  which  but  plaster  copies  remain. 

There  is  a  reminder  here  of  the  Austrian  siege  of  the 
French  garrison  in  1799, —  a  gaping  hole  in  one  of  Giulio's 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  MANTUA  533 

attractive  octagonal  pictures  in  the  centre  of  the  vaulting, 
through  which  a  cannon-ball  plowed  its  way. —  The  middle 
arch  on  the  inner  side  is  open  into  the  court ;  those  upon  the 
left  afford  an  uninterrupted  view  of  the  pleasaunce,  across 
a  deep,  dry  fosse  stretching  immediately  below.  This  was 
not  a  moat,  but  a  channel  of  changing  water  stocked  by  the 
princes  with  every  kind  of  fish  they  could  procure, —  the 
Gonzaga  aquarium ;  in  place  of  the  modern  bridge  crossing 
from  the  central  archway  to  the  garden,  marble  steps  then 
descended  to  the  water's  edge,  where  the  court  and  its  visitors 
used  to  sit,  observing  the  varied  specimens  of  aquatic  life. 
The  outer  wall  of  the  fosse  was  a  mass  of  coloured  marbles 
and  statuary,  from  which  fell  jets  and  cascades  of  incoming 
water. 

Beyond  this  stretched  then  the  spacious  greenery,  in  its 
carefully  ordered  figures  of  turf,  shrubberies  and  flowerbeds, 
shaded  by  groves  of  rare  and  beautiful  trees,  amidst  which 
gleamed  everywhere  the  marble  of  statuary  and  splashing 
fountains;  rare  plants  of  every  obtainable  species  contributed 
to  its  exotic  charm;  the  boundary  walls  at  the  sides  were 
covered  with  glowing  scenes  of  Elysian  life  by  Caravaggino, 
and  across  the  far  end  extended  a  glistening  arcade  on  clus- 
tered columns,  echoing  the  ornate  face  of  the  royal  villa. 
Vanished  is  all  this  paradise  now, —  replaced  by  a  wide 
stretch  of  weedy  grass,  bounded  by  bare  stucco  walls  at  the 
sides,  and  by  the  semicircular  red-brick  colonnade  at  the  end 
which  Prince  Eugene  erected  in  lieu  of  the  ruined  arcade  of 
Giulio.  The  fagade  of  the  palace,  as  I  saw  on  walking  forth, 
alone  remains  the  same,  with  its  imposing  central  portico, 
and  its  long  row  of  graceful  arches  sustained  by  slender 
columns  resting  on  parapets.  The  Grotta  of  Giulio  also 
remains,  in  its  small  building  at  the  garden's  northeast  cor- 
ner, no  longer  hidden  by  trees, 


534  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

Leaving  that  for  the  end,  we  continued  southward  from 
the  Atrium,  stepping  next  into  the  delightful  Sala  degli 
Stucchi:  this  received  its  name  from  the  double  frieze  of 
white  reliefs,  each  about  2  feet  high,  filled  with  countless 
figures  marching  in  one  vast,  continuous  procession,  which 
represents  the  entry  into  Mantua  of  the  Emperor  Sigismund 
in  1433,  when  he  created  the  marquisate  of  the  Gonzaghi. 
Over  the  door  to  the  next  room  we  see  the  Emperor  himself, 
a  noble  form  on  horseback,  followed  by  a  file  of  gaily  ca- 
parisoned chargers,  then  by  officers,  guards,  bands  of  music, 
foot-soldiers,  banners,  troops  of  cavalry,  captives, —  every 
division  of  an  army,  down  to  the  butchers  of  the  commis- 
sariat; all  executed  with  astonishing  lifelikeness  and  vigour, 
and  in  perfect  preservation.  It  is  one  of  the  chefs  d'ceuvres 
of  Primaticcio,  who  was  assisted  by  Scultori.  By  artistic 
license  the  whole  army  is  garbed  in  ancient  Roman  cos- 
tumes. The  handsome  vaulting  is  also  by  the  great  master  of 
stucco-work:  its  large  square  coffers  are  filled  with  mytho- 
logical groups,  and  at  the  ends  rise  two  lunettes  containing 
lifesize  reclining  figures  of  Mars  and  Hercules,  strongly 
modelled, —  topped  by  radiating  panels  with  tiny  figures. 

The  Sala  di  Cesare  succeeded,  so  called  from  the  fres- 
coed medallion  in  the  centre  of  the  vaulting,  in  which  the 
great  Julius  is  seen  amongst  his  lictors,  commanding  the 
burning  of  the  private  papers  of  Pompey;  in  this,  and  in  the 
two  other  medallions  over  the  doorways  —  portraying  Scipio 
and  Alexander  —  Primaticcio  tried  his  hand  at  frescoing. 
They  are  not  offensively  poor, —  but,  as  the  custode  well 
remarked,  Primaticcio  was  a  decorator,  not  a  painter. 
Around  the  central  panel  stand  6  large  Roman  warriors, 
of  which  Giulio  executed  the  four  upon  the  slopes ;  the  right- 
hand  one  upon  the  northern  side  is  furnished  with  his  own 
lineaments.     But  the  wonderful  feature  of  this  chamber  is 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  MANTUA  535 

the  frieze  of  putti,  painted  by  Giulio  in  grisaille,  on  brown : 
these  cherubs  are  of  a  most  celestial  beauty  and  joyousness, 
drawn  with  a  perfection  of  modelling  and  a  grace  that  noth- 
ing could  excel, —  walking,  frolicking,  playing  instruments, 
carrying  festoons  of  flowers,  drinking  from  vases,  etc.  One 
has  only  to  glance  at  them  to  realise  the  truth  of  the  asser- 
tion that  Giulio  was  the  greatest  putti-painter  that  ever 
lived ;  —  the  reason  being,  that  he  infused  into  them  all  the 
joys  and  graces  of  his  own  soul. 

Finally  now  I  entered,  in  the  southeastern  corner  of  the 
palace,  Giulio's  celebrated  Sala  del  Giganti,  in  which  he 
poured  forth  all  the  grotesque  and  colossal  fancies  of  his 
extraordinary  imagination, —  all  that  side  of  his  dream- 
world which  strove  after  the  horrible  and  the  immense, 
which  I  had  already  seen  partly  in  evidence  in  his  huge 
Hermes  of  the  Palazzo  della  Giustizia.  Every  great  artistic 
mind  seems  to  have  a  certain  leaning  to  the  uncouth  and  the 
awful;  Leonardo  showed  his,  in  the  keen  enjoyment  with 
which  he  ever  sought  and  drew  persons  of  fearful  ugliness, 
and  Michelangiolo  his,  in  the  terrors  of  his  Last  Judgment, 
and  the  size  and  exaggerated  strength  of  most  of  his  created 
forms.  Giulio  took  for  his  exposition  the  War  of  the  Titans 
with  Jove, —  a  theme  as  daring,  as  tremendous,  as  it  would 
be  possible  to  find  here  below;  and  using  the  four  walls  and 
vaulting  of  this  chamber  as  one  would  construct  a  cyclorama, 
he  obliterated  their  form  and  architecture,  submerged  their 
very  being,  under  one  vast,  unbroken  picture  of  the  primitive 
world  of  the  Giants,  shaking  to  its  centre  with  the  throes  of 
the  awful  combat.  The  Palazzo  del  Te,  the  modern  world, 
fade  to  nothingness  with  him  who  enters  these  strange  por- 
tals; and  he  stands  amidst  the  falling  caverns,  the  rocking 
mountains,  the  opening  abysses,  the  boiling  sea,  of  that  Titan- 
peopled  earth  crashing  to  its  destruction ;  he  is  a  participator 


536  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

in  the  terrible  cataclysm,  and  seems  to  feel  the  solid  rock 
quake  beneath  his  feet. 

It  is  a  cavern,  apparently,  in  which  the  spectator  finds 
himself, —  one  of  those  huge  caverns  in  which  the  giants 
dwelt, —  whose  roof  has  just  fallen  upon  all  sides,  accom- 
panied by  portions  of  the  surrounding  mountains,  burying 
beneath  the  debris  many  of  the  struggling  monsters.  On 
one  side  naught  is  seen  of  them  but  the  extremities  of  one 
colossus,  and  the  ruins  heaving  above  others ;  near-by  appears 
the  projecting  one-eyed  head  of  Polyphemus,  bellowing  with 
pain  and  fury ;  on  another  side  two  Titans  are  visible  uplift- 
ing the  masses  of  rock  pressing  upon  them  and  struggling 
to  emerge, —  terrifying,  brutish  forms,  teeming  with  evil 
passions;  between  them  a  large  aperture  affords  a  vista  of 
the  surging  sea,  with  a  peopled  island  whose  crags  are  top- 
pling upon  the  inhabitants,  crushing  many  and  hurling  oth- 
ers into  the  water;  two  of  them  are  trying  to  climb  forth 
into  this  very  cavern,  their  massive,  uncouth  heads,  glaring 
eyes  and  clutching  hands  reaching  almost  to  one's  feet; 
through  another  crevice  a  far  expanse  of  landscape  is  seen, 
across  which  numbers  of  Titans  are  fleeing,  smitten  as  they 
run  by  the  hail  of  thunderbolts  from  the  sky;  in  still  another 
direction  one  beholds  the  great  temple  of  the  giants,  to  which 
many  have  rushed  for  refuge, —  but  its  mighty  columns  are 
snapping,  and,  with  its  ponderous  roof,  are  dashing  in  frag- 
ments on  those  below. 

Fully  80  of  the  Titans  are  visible  in  all  these  scenes,  "  so 
inconceivably  ugly  and  grotesque,"  said  Dickens,  "  that  it  is 
marvellous  how  any  man  can  have  imagined  such  creatures, 
— ■  monsters  with  swollen  faces  and  cracked  cheeks,  and 
every  kind  of  distortion  of  look  and  limb, —  undergoing  and 
doing    every    kind    of    mad    and    demoniacal    destruction." 5 

5  Dickens'  "  Pictures  from  Italy." 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  MANTUA  537 

Marvellous  is  the  word  for  this  feat  of  Giulio,  in  which, 
wrote  Lanzi,  "  he  appeared  to  compete  with  Michelangiolo 
himself  in  the  hardihood  of  his  design ;  "  seldom  indeed  did 
dramatic  composition  more  directly  and  powerfully  accom- 
plish its  purpose.  I  have  no  patience  with  those  critics  who 
turn  up  their  noses  at  the  whole  effect  because  the  faces  of 
the  giants  are  "  lacking  in  true  expression ;  "  how  could  it 
be  otherwise  when  the  brushes  of  two  sets  of  "  restorers  " 
have  been  over  those  faces,  obliterating  every  original  line 
and  painting  over  every  feature! 

The  scenes  upon  earth  are  wonderfully  complemented  by 
those  in  the  heaven,  where  the  host  of  the  gods  appear, 
equally  agitated  by  the  struggle.  Looking  up,  one  sees  in 
the  zenith  the  empty  throne  of  Jove,  framed  by  a  circular 
loggia  and  surrounded  by  rolling  clouds;  below,  in  a  great 
circle,  extends  the  throng  of  the  Olympians,  stopped  from 
their  usual  occupations,  gazing  downward  in  fear  at  the 
awful  conflict  and  anxiously  seeking  counsel  from  each  other. 
Every  prominent  deity  is  visible,  clearly  distinguished  by  the 
customary  form  and  implements ;  the  Hours  have  halted  their 
horses  in  dismay,  the  nymphs  and  satyrs  are  overcome  by 
fright,  Mars  and  Venus  flee  with  Cupid;  the  four  Winds 
alone  keep  at  their  work,  blowing  furious  tempests  to  the 
aid  of  Jupiter.  The  latter  has  descended  lowest  of  them 
all,  and  from  a  commanding  cloud,  aided  by  Juno,  is  hurling 
his  thunderbolts  angrily  at  the  Titans,  with  careful  aim. — 
Rinaldo  and  Caravaggino  were  Giulio's  assistants  upon  this 
work,  and  doubtless  did  much  of  the  colouring,  from  his 
cartoons. — 

In  accentuated  and  delightful  contrast  with  these 
grandiose  halls  was  the  suite  of  little  rooms,8  daintily  orna- 

6  Little  by  comparison  with  the  other  apartments,  yet  of  good  size 
and  height  compared  with  modern  rooms. 


538  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

merited  like  cameos,  which  succeeded  the  last  hall,  running 
westward  across  the  rear  of  the  cortile:  semi-private  cham- 
bers of  the  Duke  and  his  intimates,  with  low,  confidential 
ceilings  and  a  more  homelike  air.  Here  were  held  the  re- 
stricted house-parties,  the  gay  little  suppers,  the  nights  of 
frivolity  with  the  Boschetti  and  her  friends;  here  doubtless 
the  princes  slept  and  worked  when  staying  in  the  villa,  and 
received  their  breakfasts  from  the  adjacent  kitchens  in  the 
southwest  corner.  The  suite  is  double,  with  parallel  cham- 
bers, the  more  important  looking  upon  the  court  and  the 
lesser  looking  to  the  south;  they  are  in  a  damaged  condition, 
some  much  more  so  than  others,  because  of  long  use  as  sleep- 
ing quarters  for  the  Austrian  troops.  The  first  one,  facing 
north,  is  remarkable  for  its  characteristic  ceiling-decoration 
by  Giovanni  da  Udine,  who  was  prevailed  upon  to  give  the 
Te  a  little  of  his  time ;  its  grotesques  are  in  his  happiest 
manner,  most  gaily  tinted,  and  worthily  set  off  by  Primatic- 
cio's  lovely  stucchi  filling  the  lunettes,  with  white  figures 
on  a  maroon  field.  Back  of  this  I  observed  a  domed  apart- 
ment, probably  designed  for  an  oratory,  similarly  ornamented 
by  Giovanni  and  Primaticcio.  The  latter  endowed  the  sec- 
ond chamber  on  the  court-side  with  one  of  his  beautiful 
white  friezes,  of  separate  panels;  naught  is  more  charming 
than  his  graceful  Greek  forms,  nude  or  in  flowing  robes, 
posed  amidst  temples  and  idyllic  scenes.  The  original  ceil- 
ing here  held  famous  paintings  by  Giulio;  but  having  been 
stolen  in  the  wars,  it  was  replaced  by  the  Austrians  with 
the  present  wooden  coffering;  they  at  the  same  time  redec- 
orated the  walls. 

The  following  chamber  is  ennobled  by  one  of  Primatic- 
cio's  splendid  double  friezes, —  the  first  exhibiting  fauns  and 
bacchantes  at  intervals  (in  white,  upon  imitation-marble  of 
reddish  veining)  upholding  the  cornice,  and  centered  by  three 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  MANTUA  539 

panels  depicting  Fortune,  Force,  and  Thoughtfulness ;  the 
second  displaying  more  bacchantes,  on  imitation-marble  of 
cerulean  hue,  alternating  with  medallions  containing  myth- 
ological deities.  The  original  ceiling  was  of  real  marble, 
replaced  now  by  an  imitation,  of  wood.  Traversing  next  a 
room  entirely  desolated  by  the  troopers,  I  reached  the  last 
one  on  the  court-side,  which  has  conserved  its  primary 
wooden  ceiling  with  coffers  painted  by  the  pupils  of  Man- 
tegna;  the  central  panels  show  the  Gonzaga  arms  held  by 
genii,  and  two  of  the  master's  well-like  perspectives  ending 
in  open,  circular  balustrades,  from  which  look  down  a  lady 
combing  her  hair  and  a  mother  cleaning  her  child.  The 
quaint  frieze  of  arabesques  in  grisaille,  is  of  the  same  source, 
with  tiny  busts  at  intervals,  of  the  Gonzaga  marchionesses. 
The  remainder  of  the  suite,  looking  southward,  has  preserved 
no  decorations  worth  annotation. 

Returning  to  the  Grand  Atrium  and  the  garden,  I  visited 
Giulio's  Casino  della  Grotta,  located  in  the  northeast  cor- 
ner,—  externally  but  a  plain  little  stucco  dwelling,  with  a 
rear  enclosure.  I  entered  first  a  vestibule,  with  a  ceiling 
covered  with  pretty  arabesques,  by  Giovanni  da  Udine;  be- 
hind this  lay  a  square  chamber  with  a  ceiling  of  large  coffers, 
painted  by  Giulio's  pupils  with  emblematic  figures  and  scenes 
from  Roman  life, —  one  of  which,  portraying  the  self-sacri- 
fice of  Regulus,  provided  the  name  of  Saletta  di  Regolo. 
To  right  from  the  vestibule  extended  the  main  Loggetta, — 
a  long,  arched  loggia  opening  upon  the  enclosed  garden  in 
rear;  it  preserved  the  original  mosaic  pavement,  and  was 
charmingly  frescoed  from  end  to  end  by  Giulio's  disciples, 
after  his  cartoons, —  the  walls  being  covered  with  daintiest 
and  most  varied  grotesques,  set  off  by  occasional  stucco  me- 
dallions, the  broad  cornice  gilded  upon  all  its  relievo,  the 
vaulting  aglow  with  eleven  large  panels  depicting  the  different 


54Q  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

ages  of  man,  divided  by  courses  of  gilt  foliation.  Upon  the 
long  wall  hung  also  three  framed  pictures  by  Giulio  him- 
self, representing  mythological  scenes;  while  over  the  central, 
and  largest, —  ruined  by  restoration  —  I  noticed  two  curious, 
small  panels  from  his  hand,  decorative  groups  of  bacchantes, 
sphinxes,  tigers  and  other  animals. 

The  restricted  garden  was  divided  into  four  little  flower- 
beds; and  roundabout  its  brown  stucco  walls  ran  a  pleasing 
arcaded  frieze,  with  grimacing  Hermes  that  upheld  the  cor- 
nice; the  arches  were  once  filled  with  graceful  reliefs,  of  which 
but  few  now  remained.  At  its  rear  end  stood  the  Grotta 
proper,  a  large  pile  of  imitation-rocks,  covering  a  sort  of  cave 
entered  by  a  narrow  door;  this  was  square  in  shape,  with 
a  fountain  (now  dry)  at  each  angle,  and  an  alcove  at  one 
side  containing  three  more  fountains;  most  of  the  original 
decoration  of  mother-of-pearl  and  mosaic  was  vanished,  but 
the  roughened  stucco  work  and  stalactites  gave  a  hint  of  its 
general  effect  in  those  days  when  the  ladies  of  the  court 
sought  this  cool  refuge  from  the  summer  sun.  Isabella  is 
believed  to  have  been  the  prime  instigator  and  habituee  of 
the  place, —  whence  it  is  often  called  after  her.  For  many 
years  the  secluded  retirement  of  the  Casino  and  its  garden 
was  favoured  by  the  dukes,  and  countless  were  "  the  festi- 
vals, receptions,  audiences,  dinners,  spectacles,  orgies,  of 
which  the  Mantuan  chronicles  speak  as  having  taken  place 
in  this  little  play-house  of  delights."  7 

Despite  the  vast  sums  expended  by  the  Gonzaghi  on  the 
Palazzo  del  Te,  and  the  endless  riches  lavished  by  them  on 
the  Reggia,  an  almost  equal  amount  of  treasure  and  artistic 
labours  was  poured  forth,  from  age  to  age,  on  that  wondrous 
circle  of  country-houses  scattered  far  and  near  over  Mantuan 

7  Giovanni  Battista  Intra. 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  MANTUA  541 

territory, —  so  many  more  famous  jewels  in  the  lustrous 
Gonzaga  crown,  whose  number  was  constantly  added  to, 
and  whose  brilliancy  was  ever  increased.  With  the  fall  of 
their  owners  and  protectors,  however,  they  were  soon 
stripped  and  suffered  to  decay.  Not  one  remains  to  give 
us  a  conception  of  those  celebrated  artistic  and  rural  beau- 
ties, to  whose  enjoyment  the  ducal  family  devoted  so  much 
time  in  villeggicitura,  with  so  many  magnificent  fetes  for  the 
entertainment  of  distinguished  guests.  Their  names  alone 
linger,  in  the  pages  of  Gonzaga  annals.  Before  the  days 
of  the  Te,  we  hear  of  the  ancient  castle  of  Gonzaga,  the 
grim  cradle  of  the  race;  of  the  villa  of  Goito,  which  Lo- 
dovico  II  adorned  and  resorted  to,  with  his  good  spouse 
Barbara  and  their  throng  of  children;  of  the  Villa  Porto, 
farther  down  the  Mincio,  where  Isabella  used  to  repair  in 
the  early  years  of  her  married  life,  and  which  she  so  loved 
that  Gianfrancesco  made  her  a  present  of  it,  and  she  spent 
much  time  and  money  in  its  adornment;  of  the  Villa  Sac- 
chetta,  where  Isabella  and  her  children  several  times  sought 
refuge  when  the  plague  was  ravaging  the  city;  and  of  the 
splendid  Marmirolo,  which  was  Gianfrancesco's  delight,  and 
whose  name  alone  shows  its  richness. 

Marmirolo  stood  several  miles  northwest  of  Mantua,  on 
the  farther  edge  of  the  private  forest  of  the  Gonzaghi, — 
a  spacious,  noble  wood  of  oaks  and  poplars,  stocked  with 
deer  and  boar,  called  the  Bosco  della  Fontana;  it  is  still 
intact,  the  property  of  the  crown.  "  In  February  [1494]  " 
—  says  the  chronicler  — "  we  find  Isabella  engaging  in  hunt- 
ing-parties and  theatricals  at  Marmirolo,  that  superb  country- 
house  which  Francesco  G.  delighted  to  adorn.  Mantegna's 
son  had  painted  a  series  of  Triumphs  on  canvas  [for  it]  and 
both  this  artist  and  the  Veronese  master,  Bonsignori,  were 


542  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

now  engaged  in  decorating  certain  halls  with  views  of  Greek 
and  Turkish  cities."  8  The  Marquis  continued  to  embellish 
the  villa  while  he  lived,  and  its  fame  was  wide-spread. 
Vincenzo  I  erected  a  fanciful  castle  in  the  centre  of  the 
wood,  at  the  heart  of  its  radiating  alleys;  and  there  "  fetes, 
dinners,  dances,  hunting  parties,  succeeded  one  another, 
making  of  the  park  a  place  of  delicious  sojourn."  9  The 
same  prince  built  on  the  northern  shore  of  the  lake,  under 
Viani's  designing,  the  celebrated  Palazzo  della  Favorita, 
at  once  the  largest  and  most  ornate  of  all  the  Gonzaga 
villas,  which  was  called  the  Versailles  of  Mantua;  its  fres- 
coes, marbles,  and  treasures  of  art  were  innumerable,  and  its 
extensive  gardens  along  the  water's  edge  were  a  marvel  of 
natural  beauties,  studded  with  temples,  fountains  and  statu- 
ary. It  became  the  favourite  residence  of  the  Duke  and  his 
successors, —  whence  the  name.  A  single  wing  of  the  great 
ruin  still  stands,  and  some  of  its  marbles  repose  in  the 
Museo  Civico. 

The  villas  of  Maderno,  Rovere,  Cavriana,  Saviolo,  and 
various  others,  all  played  their  parts  in  Gonzaga  history, 
shone  more  or  less  brilliantly,  and  left  nothing  behind  them 
worthy  of  a  glance.  But  that  which  is  decidedly  worthy  of 
a  visit,  and  one  of  the  most  interesting  buildings  on  Mantuan 
territory,  is  the  Gonzaga  pilgrimage-church,  called  S.  Maria 
delle  Grazie,  which  Francesco  IV  constructed  in  1399,  in 
pursuance  of  a  vow.  It  stands  about  3  miles  west  of  the 
city,  on  the  highway  to  Cremona,  close  by  the  battleground 
of  Montanara, —  marked  by  a  monument, —  where  5,000 
Tuscans  held  at  bay  20,000  Austrians  on  May  29,  1848. 
The  church  is  a  brick  and  terracotta  edifice  of  pleasing  gothic 
lines,  consisting  of  a  spacious  nave  with  side-chapels ;  over 
the  arched  entrances  to  the  latter  two  rows  of  niches,  sep- 

8  Julia  Cartwright's  "  Isabella  d'Este."  9  G.B. Intra. 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  MANTUA  543 

arated  by  varied  columns,  run  along  each  side-wall;  and 
in  these  are  posed  the  most  extraordinary  throng  of  wax 
and  wooden  figures,  44  in  all,  fully  dressed  in  the  costumes 
and  armour  of  different  periods,  and  naturally  coloured. 
They  represent  healed  invalids,  persons  saved  from  danger, 
warriors,  princes,  kings  and  churchmen, —  including  Fede- 
rigo  II  of  Gonzaga,  and  Emperor  Charles  V;  they  were  given 
by  visiting  dignitaries,  and  devotees  who  wished  to  fulfil 
a  vow  or  believed  themselves  saved  by  the  Virgin;  they 
are  bad  artistically,  but  very  odd  and  amusing,  the  tale  of 
each  being  told  by  some  crude  verses  underneath.  Further 
ex-voto  offerings  of  the  usual  kinds  are  also  in  evidence,  in 
large  numbers. 

Several  of  the  Gonzaghi  were  buried  here,  but  they  have 
no  noticeable  monument,  save  the  marble  tabernacle  over 
the  high-altar  which  is  a  memorial  of  the  17th  century 
prince,  Ercole.  There  is  a  handsome  Renaissance  tomb  of 
1489  to  Bernardino  Corradi;  and  three  good  canvases  are 
seen,  by  Lor.  Costa,  Borgani,  and  Fr.  Bonsignori.  But  the 
most  interesting  relic  of  all  is  the  monument  of  Baldassare 
Castiglione,  in  the  first  chapel  to  right, —  designed  by  Giulio 
Romano,  with  a  stilted  epitaph  by  Bembo.  Under  this 
handsome  tomb  of  red  marble,  supported  by  columns,  the 
author  of  the  "  Cortegiano  "  lies  beside  his  much  beloved 
young  wife,  Ippolita;  he  died  in  Spain  in  1529,  was  brought 
home  to  his  aged  mother  in  the  neighbouring  castle  of 
Casatico,  where  he  had  been  born  (9  miles  to  the  west),  and 
she  removed  his  body  hither. 

Amongst  the  environs  of  Mantua  there  are  two  places 
whose  historical  interest  much  precedes  the  epoch  of  the 
Gonzaghi,  and  which  receive  many  visitors.  One  is  Vir- 
gil's birthplace,  the  village  of  Andes  —  now  Pietole  —  on 
the  Mincio  near  its  egress  from  the  lakes;  where  the  Man- 


544  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

tuans  pour  forth  every  15th  of  October,  to  celebrate  the 
festa  of  the  poet's  birth  with  music,  contests,  and  merry- 
making. The  house  and  little  garden  that  were  considered 
in  the  Renaissance  to  have  been  Virgil's,  were  acquired  by 
Vittorino  da  Feltre,  and  used  in  his  scheme  of  education. 
Today  the  place  of  the  bard's  dwelling  is  but  an  empty 
field,  marked  by  a  small  monument  surrounded  by  oaks  and 
laurels,  and  crowned  with  an  iron  statue  by  Paganini. — 
The  other  historical  spot  is  the  mediaeval  monastery  of  S. 
Benedetto,  founded  by  Tedaldo  di  Canossa  in  984,  and 
aggrandised  by  Matilda  into  one  of  the  richest  retreats  in 
Europe;  it  lies  about  10  miles  southeast  of  Mantua,  on  the 
southern  bank  of  the  Po.  The  Benedictines  were  expelled 
by  the  French  in  1798,  their  countless  artistic  treasures  were 
scattered  from  Paris  to  Padua,  and  of  their  priceless  books 
and  manuscripts  —  to  which  Matilda  had  greatly  contributed 
—  but  a  portion  was  saved  for  the  library  of  Mantua;  but 
the  imposing  church  which  Giulio  Romano  remodelled  about 
1540,  still  stands  amongst  the  ancient  cloisters. 

One  sees  the  noble,  colonnaded  forecourt  added  by  Giulio, 
the  original  gothic-vaulted  nave,  the  later,  coffered  aisles, 
flanked  by  ten  chapels,  and  the  numerous  frescoes  upon  walls 
and  roof  done  by  Giulio's  assistants;  these  were  not  care- 
fully painted, —  but  the  five  panels  of  stucco  reliefs  by  Scul- 
tori,  on  the  vaulting  of  the  choir,  are  charming  works.  The 
aisles  continue  around  the  choir,  in  impressive  fashion,  and 
its  stalls  are  elaborately  sculptured.  In  the  chapels  one 
notices,  among  many  lesser  canvases,  the  fine  picture  of  the 
Redeemer  alleged  to  be  by  the  hand  of  Titian,  and  a  copy 
of  Giulio's  lost  "  Christ  with  the  Apostles  amidst  the 
storm,"  which  he  executed  for  the  abbey.  In  the  ambu- 
latory stands  a  richly  carved  Renaissance  monument  (1528) 
to  Cesare  Arzago,  benefactor  of  the  monks.     The  adjoining 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  MANTUA  545 

sacristy  is  a  handsome  edifice  by  Giulio,  adorned  upon  its 
vaulting  with  an  octagonal  fresco  from  his  own  hand,  repre- 
senting the  Transfiguration;  and  in  its  antechamber  one  be- 
holds what  is  left  of  the  original  tomb  of  Countess  Matilda, 
—  the  sarcophagus  of  alabaster,  supported  by  four  red-marble 
lions,  in  which  her  body  lay  till  it  was  taken  to  Rome  in 
1634.  The  surmounting  canopy  and  angels  are  a  later 
addition,  also  the  picture  by  Farinata  showing  Matilda  on 
horseback.  The  lions  were  substituted  about  1450  for  the 
primary  slender  columns,  which  were  giving  way. —  One 
finds  a  final  interest  in  the  three  ancient  cloisters,  of  which 
that  of  S.  Simone  is  the  oldest,  dating  from  the  10th  cen- 
tury. 

About  IO  miles  east  of  S.  Benedetto,  on  this  southern  shore, 
lies  Rovere,  the  site  of  an  important  Gonzaga  villa;  at  the 
same  distance  southwest  lies  the  village  of  Gonzaga  itself, 
the  birthplace  of  the  race ;  and  as  far  again  beyond  the  latter, 
facing  upon  the  Po,  stands  the  town  of  Guastalla,  where  the 
younger  branch  reigned  as  dukes  long  after  the  elder  had 
perished.  It  is  a  thriving  small  city  of  11,000  inhabitants; 
but  the  ducal  palaces  are  ruined,  and  little  remains  of  their 
long  lordship  but  a  bronze  statue  of  Ferdinando  I  in  the 
main  piazza.  These  places  are  not  worth  a  visit;  but  that 
which,  to  me  at  least,  forms  an  enjoyable  day's  excursion  from 
Mantua,  is  a  visit  to  the  village  of  Canedole,  with  its  famed 
model-estate  of  the  Baron  Franchetti.  This  embraces  over 
5,000  acres,  which  have  been  developed  within  a  few  years  to 
an  astonishing  degree  of  fertility  and  profit-bearing  by  the  use 
of  steam-ploughs,  hydraulic  engines,  and  all  the  latest  agricul- 
tural systems  and  inventions.  In  the  centre,  near  the  old 
village,  is  the  so-called  Corte  di  Canedole,  the  Baron's  model 
colony,  shaped  into  a  vast  rectangle  that  houses  more  than 
3,000  contadinij — the  disciplined  workers  of  the  estate;  these 


546  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

fortunate  people,  living  happily  under  ideal  conditions,  labour 
with  the  strict  orderliness  of  an  army.  The  master  himself 
watches  over  all  from  his  handsome  residence  fronting  the 
entrance  of  the  great  court.  The  numerous  model  barns, 
granaries,  machine-shops,  dairies,  and  stables  sheltering  hun- 
dreds of  oxen,  horses,  cows,  etc.,  have  been  an  inestimable 
revelation  to  Lombards  of  the  possibilities  of  their  land.10 

Of  all  the  day-excursions  to  be  taken  from  Mantua,  how- 
ever, by  far  the  most  interesting  is  that  to  Sabbioneta,  which 
should  be  missed  by  no  traveller  who  can  possibly  afford  the 
8  or  9  hours  required.  It  lies  about  20  miles  to  the  south- 
west, within  the  great  southern  curve  of  the  Po,  some  five 
miles  northeast  of  Casalmaggiore ;  —  a  deserted,  fossil-like 
town  of  a  few  hundred  inhabitants,  dwelling  ghost-like 
within  the  massive  walls  and  Renaissance  palaces  of  a  dead 
city  of  10,000  souls.  It  is  a  veritable  sleeping  castle,  without 
a  princess, —  an  unburied,  Renaissance  Pompeii,  conserving 
all  unaltered,  in  its  forgotten  corner  of  the  plain,  the  forti- 
fications, palaces,  gardens,  colonnades,  casinos,  churches,  of 
the  highest  period  of  the  classic  revival,  which  were  built  and 
adorned  by  one  of  the  most  cultured  of  Gonzaga  princes. 
Sabbioneta  belonged  to  the  small  principality  of  Bozzolo  — 
10  miles  to  its  north,  midway  on  the  highroad  from  Mantua 
to  Cremona  —  which  was  sliced  off  from  Mantuan  territory, 
like  Guastalla,  and  ruled  for  several  generations  by  a  younger 
branch  of  the  Gonzaghi.  From  1531  to  1 591  Vespasiano 
Gonzaga  was  Principe  of  Bozzolo,  but  made  Sabbioneta  his 
residence;  and  in  emulation  of  the  glory  of  his  cousins  at 
Mantua,  he  spent  his  life  in  reconstructing  and  embellishing 
the  place  according  to  the  approved  methods,  increasing  its 

10  See  final  chapter  in  "  Plain-Towns  of  Italy,"  on  the  decline  of 
Lombard  agriculture,  and  viniculture. 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  MANTUA  547 

size  to  10,000  flourishing  people,  and  surrounding  it  with 
mighty  walls  of  the  strongest  pattern. 

Vespasiano  was  a  learned  man,  a  true  lover  of  art,  and  an 
enthusiast  for  monumental  building  and  decoration;  he  was 
also  a  noted  general,  having  commanded  with  conspicuous 
success  the  armies  of  Charles  V  and  Philip  II.  He  almost 
bankrupted  his  little  state  in  his  building-operations,  using 
the  best  artists  that  he  could  procure,  and  sparing  no  ex- 
pense for  which  he  could  raise  the  money;  he  erected  a 
magnificent  palace,  a  grand,  arcaded  art-gallery,  a  library, 
a  mint,  a  printing-house,  a  bank  of  exchange,  a  hospital,  a 
monte  di  pieta,  a  beautiful  summer-house  amidst  elaborate 
gardens,  and  one  of  the  two  earliest  theatres  of  the  Renais- 
sance, designed  by  Scamozzi ;  besides  lesser  palaces,  churches, 
schools,  porticoes,  casinos,  tempietti,  and  classic  structures  of 
every  kind ;  all  of  which  were  adorned  as  befitted  a  prince 
of  the  house  of  Gonzaga.  In  fact,  he  rebuilt  the  whole  town, 
laying  it  out  on  broad,  straight  streets  at  right  angles.  Surely 
never  was  so  much  princely  state  crowded  into  so  small  a 
space.  It  was  a  Renaissance  capital  in  miniature,  but  of  the 
highest  type.  When  Vespasiano's  line  soon  thereafter  ex- 
pired, Sabbioneta  returned  to  the  oblivion  from  which  he  had 
raised  it;  forgotten  in  its  corner,  the  inhabitants  departing, 
it  slowly  died  away  within  its  ponderous  walls,  and  the 
abandoned  classic  edifices  crumbled  one  by  one.  But  the 
chief  of  them  still  stand,  more  or  less  ruinous,  raising  their 
lofty  fagades  above  the  deserted,  silent  streets,  through  which 
the  few  remaining  people  flit  like  shadows  of  the  past. 
Nothing  more  strange,  more  unique,  or  more  interesting  is 
to  be  found  in  all  north  Italy  than  this  petrified,  sleeping, 
vacuous  microcosm  of  cinquecento  architecture. 

It  is  easily  reached  from  Mantua  by  driving,  or  by  the 


548  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

steam-tramway  to  Viadana.  I  chose  the  latter  method,  re- 
pairing early  one  morning  to  its  station  beside  the  Porta 
Pradella,  and  starting  over  the  southern  fen-land  in  a  jerky, 
rattling  train  of  two  little  coaches,  which  crept  along  the 
highways  at  8  or  10  miles  an  hour.  The  stops  were  so  fre- 
quent, moreover,  that  the  journey  lengthened  itself  to  3 
hours.  Once  out  of  the  marsh-land  the  country  was  very 
thickly  settled,  and  highly  cultivated;  and  it  seemed  as  if 
the  villages  were  almost  continuous.  They  were  prosperous, 
comfortable-looking  villages,  more  advanced  than  in  most 
parts  of  Italy;  yet  they  still  adhered  to  the  ancient  method 
of  crowding  their  stuccoed  dwellings  closely  together  upon 
narrow  streets, —  through  which  we  were  obliged  to  proceed 
very  slowly.  The  countryside  was  delightfully  lovely,  all 
the  way,  from  the  luxuriance  of  its  vegetation ;  the  mulberry 
trees  covered  it  like  an  endless  blanket  of  the  brightest  green, 
amongst  which  the  peasants  were  picking  another  crop  of 
leaves  for  the  silk-worms;  beneath  the  trees  grew  wheat,  for 
the  most  part,  with  occasional  variations.  Indian  corn  was 
singularly  wanting  in  this  section,  and  the  vine  far  rarer  than 
usual. 

After  more  than  two  hours  we  passed  the  good-sized  Del- 
mona  River,  at  the  town  of  Commessaggio,  the  largest  en 
route;  here  I  observed  to  the  left  an  imposing  brick  chateau, 
picturesque  in  form  and  apparently  in  fair  condition,  which, 
I  was  informed,  had  been  formerly  Gonzaga  property. 
Doubtless  it  was  a  villa  of  the  Bozzolo  branch,  into  whose 
domains  I  was  now  entering.  Another  40  minutes  of  slow 
progress  brought  us  finally  to  a  stop  near  the  southern  gate 
of  Sabbioneta,  whose  mighty  brick  walls,  darkened  by  time 
and  the  damp  of  the  slimy  moat,  loomed  directly  before  me 
as  I  descended.  Perfectly  preserved,  they  swept  straight 
away  on  each  hand  behind  their  broad,  stagnant  fosse,  to 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  MANTUA  549 

jutting  towers  at  some  distance;  their  lofty  summit,  planted 
with  vines  climbing  upon  serried  sticks,  concealed  all  build- 
ings within ;  and  to  the  south  stretched  the  open  country 
with  its  mulberry  groves,  showing  not  a  sign  of  habitation. 
The  train  disappeared, —  and  I  felt  as  if  I  had  stepped  off 
into  the  land  of  Nowhere.  The  tower  to  the  west,  however, 
proved  to  be  the  main  town-gate,  now  called  the  Porta  Venti 
Settembre:  a  large,  square,  ponderous  structure  of  grey  stone, 
pierced  by  three  deep  archways,  of  which  the  smaller  two  for 
foot-passengers  had  been  blocked  up.  Above  the  central 
arch  I  observed  an  inscription  of  "  Vespasianus  —  Dux," 
with  his  shield  of  arms. 

Crossing  the  bridge  and  traversing  the  tunnel-entrance,  I 
found  a  short  street  behind  it  that  led  me  northward  for 
a  block  between  evidently  deserted  houses;  a  live  human 
being  then  appeared,  looking  strangely  out  of  place;  but 
following  his  directions,  I  turned  eastward  for  another  block, 
then  northward  upon  what  proved  the  principal  thorough- 
fare,—  the  Via  Giulia,  so  named  by  Vespasiano  after  his 
aunt,  a  Gonzaga  princess  of  celebrated  beauty.  Sabbioneta, 
I  found,  is  practically  square  in  shape,  with  but  two  in- 
gresses,  in  the  middle  of  its  northern  and  southern  walls; 
and  this  street  connects  the  two  gates,  passing  a  block  to  the 
west  of  the  main  piazza,  and  traversing  midway  the  second 
large  open  space, —  the  Piazza  d'Armi.  After  walking, 
therefore,  through  several  blocks  of  aged,  stuccoed,  crumbling 
dwellings  of  two  and  three  storeys,  looking  mostly  abandoned, 
and  enlivened  (  ?)  only  by  a  few  dead  little  shops,  I  reached 
this  Piazza  d'Armi,  extending  to  the  left  of  the  way. 

In  front  of  the  grass-grown  field  stood  a  modern  monu- 
ment of  the  Rhorgimento,  consisting  of  a  fluted  Corinthian 
column  topped  by  a  mutilated  female  figure ;  even  in  this 
fossil  of  a  town  they  woke  up  over  Italy's  freedom.     Along 


55o  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

the  left  side  of  the  deep  area  extended  an  extraordinary  struc- 
ture,—  a  sort  of  elongated,  two-storied  loggia,  of  unplastered 
brick,  in  good  renaissance  lines;  the  ground  storey  was  a 
long  succession  of  arches  sustained  on  coupled  square  piers, 
forming  a  covered  promenade;  the  enclosed  upper  floor  was 
adorned  with  a  row  of  corresponding  arches  in  relief,  divided 
by  pilasters  with  niches,  and  holding  small  oblong  windows; 
while  it  was  crowned  by  a  ponderous  cornice.  This  edifice,  I 
learned,  was  Vespasiano's  art-gallery.  A  tiny  marble  temple, 
of  Greek  doric  form,  projected  from  the  centre  of  its  facade, 
showing  his  shield  of  arms.  From  its  back  end  another  and 
more  ruinous  building  stretched  across  the  rear  of  the  field, — 
Vespasiano's  summer  residence,  the  Palazzo  del  Giardino; 
so-called  from  the  once  beautiful  gardens  behind  it. 

Keeping  on  up  Via  Giulia,  I  soon  reached  on  the  right 
side  an  imposing  Renaissance  palace  of  better  preservation ; 
it  was  Scamozzi's  theatre.  The  8  rusticated  windows  of 
the  ground  storey  were  boarded  up;  those  of  the  upper 
floor  bore  cornices  broken  in  the  middle  by  oval  roundels 
for  vanished  busts,  and  alternated  with  niches  for  statues, 
charmingly  framed  in  egg-and-dart  mouldings;  above  them 
ran  a  doric  frieze  and  cornice.  It  was  of  course  all  stucco- 
work,  but  nevertheless  quite  effective.  Turning  past  this 
to  the  right,  a  block's  eastward  progress  brought  me  into 
the  main  Piazza,  now  renamed  after  Garibaldi ;  it  was 
a  spacious  paved  square,  remaining  unaltered,  save  by  de- 
cay, from  Gonzaga  days.  Handsome  renaissance  arcades 
stretched  upon  the  western  and  southern  sides;  that  on 
the  south  being  supported  on  doric  columns,  and  surmounted 
by  a  single  floor,  that  on  the  west  being  upheld  by  square, 
rusticated,  stone  pillars,  with  two  upper  storeys,  entirely 
shut  up  and  deserted.  On  the  east  side,  next  the  southern 
arcade,    stood   the   parochial   church   rebuilt   by  Vespasiano, 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  MANTUA  551 

showing  a  curious  stone  facade  of  red  and  grey  blocks  like 
a  checker  board;  over  its  baroque  portal  opened  a  large 
circular  window,  topped  by  a  gable;  at  its  left  side  rose  a 
pink,  stuccoed  campanile,  with  a  very  rococo  belfry  and 
lantern.  North  from  this  extended  a  row  of  several  old 
stucco  buildings  in  an  advanced  state  of  decay. 

On  the  north  side  stood  the  Palazzo  Ducale,  long  used 
by  the  municipality,  and  now  called  the  Palazzo  Municipale, 
—  to  which  fact  is  due  its  preservation :  a  two-storied  stucco 
edifice,  of  a  light  lavender  hue,  in  dignified,  well-balanced, 
renaissance  lines,  its  heavy  cornice  surmounted  in  the  middle 
by  a  short,  square  tower.  The  ground  storey  was  an  im- 
posing arcade,  of  large  arches  rusticated  in  imitation  of  stone, 
balustraded  between  the  piers,  except  the  central  arch  which 
was  approached  by  a  broad  flight  of  steps;  the  oblong  win- 
dows overhead  were  crowned  with  alternate  pediments  and 
rounded  cornices,  and  the  middle  one  was  faced  by  a  balus- 
traded ringhiera-balcony. — The  piazza  itself  was  paved  partly 
in  brick,  partly  in  cobbles,  between  which  the  grass  was 
sprouting;  over  its  broad  sunlit  space  not  a  sign  of  life  was 
visible,  and  save  for  the  solitary  little  shop  in  one  of  the 
dilapidated  eastern  buildings,  it  might  be  a  city  of  the  dead. 

I  entered  the  hallway  of  the  palace,  and  after  some  look- 
ing about  unearthed  its  custodian,  Angelo  Bergonzi  by  name, 
who  proved  to  be  a  man  of  considerable  intelligence  and 
knowledge  of  the  town;  he  carries  the  keys  of  the  various 
buildings,  and  any  visitor  can  do  no  better  than  procure  his 
services  also  as  general  cicerone.  He  led  me  up  the  grand 
stairway  at  the  end  of  the  hall,  into  the  spacious  Salone  dei 
Cavalli  at  the  rear  of  the  piano  nobile,  looking  back  upon 
the  restricted  courtyard;  this  was  the  entrance-hall  to  the 
grand  public  suite.  Around  its  upper  walls  extended  a  series 
of   12  large  recesses,  constructed   for  the  equestrian  statues 


552  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

of  Vespasiano  and  his  direct  ancestors,  going  back  to  Luigi  I 
of  Mantua:  four  of  them  still  remained, —  lifesize  wooden 
figures,  painted  and  gilded,  and  fairly  lifelike  for  such  work. 
They  represented  Vespasiano  himself,  Aloysius  Marchio, 
Lodovico,  and  Gianf rancesco ;  the  first  appearing  as  a  tall 
man  of  dignified  presence,  and  a  wise  and  resolute  face. 
The  lofty  roof  was  divided  by  heavy  beams  into  9  large 
compartments,  each  filled  with  small  coffers  painted  with  de- 
signs in  grey,  white  and  black.  The  broad  and  striking 
frieze  —  said  the  custode  —  was  a  work  of  the  brilliant 
Cremonese  artist,  Bernardino  Campi:  three  huge  black  eagles 
on  each  side  carried  bulky  festoons  of  fruits  and  flowers,  and 
charming  caryatidae  stood  in  the  angles.  There  was  true 
genius  in  the  novelty  and  effectiveness  of  this  bright-hued 
decoration ;  and  the  equestrian  statues  made  the  hall  still 
more  impressive. 

Adjacent  on  the  east  I  observed  a  small  chamber  with  a 
finely  carved  wooden  ceiling,  having  the  device  of  Vespasiano 
in  the  centre, —  a  shield  crossed  diagonally  by  the  word 
"  Libertas,"  upheld  by  two  lions  rampant;  here  also  was  an 
interesting  relic  of  his  ducal  furniture, —  a  heavy  wooden 
table,  curiously  painted  with  designs.  Proceeding  north- 
ward from  this  room,  down  the  rear  wing  extending  along 
the  east  side  of  the  courtyard,  we  reached,  after  traversing 
a  couple  of  chambers  bare  of  interest,  one  covered  by  an  oak 
ceiling  of  magnificent  sculpture,  richly  intricate  in  its  deep 
coffering;  the  central  panel  bore  an  angel  holding  the  device 
of  the  shield,  with  a  border  of  wreathed  fruits  and  flowers 
fully  a  foot  thick.  Here,  and  through  most  of  the  rooms, 
were  the  modern  furniture  and  hangings  used  by  the  town- 
officials.  The  succeeding  chamber,  at  the  end,  bore  another 
beautiful  cinquecento  oak  ceiling,  with  octagonal  coffers  4 
feet  in  diameter,  and  graceful  pendants;  after  which,  in  rear 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  MANTUA  553 

of  the  court,  came  a  long  hall  roofed  with  rectangular  cof- 
fering of  oak,  whose  large  central  rosettes  terminated  in 
natural  bunches  of  grapes.  The  condition  of  these  rare 
ceilings  was  far  better  than  those  of  the  Rcggia. 

Returning  to  the  entrance-hall,  we  stepped  into  the  front, 
central  chamber  behind  the  ringhiera, —  a  long,  narrow  apart- 
ment with  lofty  vaulting,  elaborately  decorated :  down  its 
middle  extended  three  oval  paintings, —  of  Phaeton  in  his 
chariot,  flanked  by  two  warriors;  on  each  slope  were  four 
panels  of  pleasing  stucchi,  in  white  on  black,  showing  scenes 
of  Roman  warriors;  —  the  best  being  a  sacrifice  before  a 
throned  Caesar.  Between  these,  on  each  slope,  were  three 
square  panels  of  frescoed  landscapes,  now  quite  ruined.  The 
two  Gonzaga  busts  formerly  ornamenting  the  side  doorways 
were  gone,  but  the  elaborate  frieze  remained,  consisting  of 
heroic,  stuccoed,  half-figures  of  Gonzaga  princes  and  prin- 
cesses, posed  in  high  relief  within  separate  compartments,  un- 
der-written by  appropriate  descriptions.  These  were  not 
very  well  done. 

To  the  right  opened  the  noble  Sala  dci  Busti,  having  an- 
other broad  frescoed  frieze,  with  two  Gonzaga  busts  perched 
upon  corbels  on  each  side,  before  shell-like  roundels;  its 
ornate  wooden  ceiling  was  divided  into  9  compartments, 
richly  carved, —  the  central  of  which  bore  the  painted  device 
of  Vespasiano,  held  by  genii,  and  the  others  contained  various 
emblems  of  the  Gonzaghi.  This  was  the  "  Gran  Sala  "  of 
the  palace,  used  nowadays  for  the  meetings  of  the  town- 
council. — The  remaining  rooms  of  this  floor  being  bare  of 
artistic  relics,  we  descended  to  the  court,  and  examined  the 
ground  storey  of  the  rear  wing,  in  which  the  town  grammar- 
school  has  of  late  generations  been  housed.  Here  I  saw  the 
Sala  del  Divertimento  del  Duca, —  really  two  rooms,  united 
by  an  archway, —  filled  now  with  tiers  of  ink-stained  desks 


554  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

and  benches.  The  two  exquisite,  gilded,  wooden  ceilings 
were  perfectly  preserved,  with  beautifully  moulded  panels 
containing  Vespasiano's  device,  or  rosettes  ending  in  bunches 
of  grapes;  below  them  extended  gilded  friezes  and  cornices. 
The  very  handsome  ducal  fireplace  still  stood,  made  of  red- 
veined  creamy  marble  below,  with  a  single  lion's  forepaw 
on  each  side,  surmounted  by  the  beast's  head  and  flowing 
mane;  above,  it  was  of  baroque  stucco  construction,  with 
gilded  relievo, —  consisting  of  Vespasiano's  shield  surrounded 
by  delicate  foliations  and  Roman  trophies.  Such  a  fireplace 
is  absolutely  priceless  today. 

Adjacent  on  the  south  lay  the  second  schoolroom,  with  a 
delightful  Giulio-Romano-like  ceiling;  its  large,  square,  cen- 
tral panel  held  a  nearly  vanished  fresco  that  looked  like 
Venus  and  Adonis;  all  around  which,  to  the  descending 
spandrels  at  the  sides,  were  charming  masses  of  grotesques, 
interspersed  with  a  number  of  small  scenic  panels  on  black 
ground,  fairly  well  preserved.  On  each  corner-spandrel 
were  a  couple  of  very  red  cherubs,  playing  with  an  animal, — 
also  in  good  condition ;  but  the  frescoed  tableaux  in  the  three 
lunettes  at  the  sides  were  practically  undecipherable.  These 
elegant  apartments  were  part  of  the  private  suites  of  the 
prince.  Local  legend  attaches  the  name  of  Bernardino  Campi 
to  their  ornamentations,  but  it  was  doubtless  Antonio  Campi, 
who  alone  of  that  family  decorated  in  this  delightful  fashion ; 
he  and  his  assistants  are  probably  responsible  also  for  the 
Sala  dei  Cavalli,  and  at  least  the  painted  features  of  the 
other  chambers.11 

Beside  the  palace,  on  the  west,  I  noticed  on  departing  the 
curious  brick  Palazzo  dell'  Olio,  with  a  receding  basement  of 
heavy  granite  blocks,  a  stone-arched  portal,  and  3   tiers  of 

11  The  name  of  Alberto  Cavalli  is  also  associated  with  this  work 
by  some  authorities. 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  MANTUA  555 

heavily  corniced  windows.  Following  my  guide's  directions, 
I  took  the  short  street  leading  north  by  the  right  side  of  the 
Municipio,  which  brought  me  in  one  block  to  the  quaint 
little  " Albergo  del  Sole;"  this  was  primitive  indeed,  with 
only  a  kitchen  on  the  right  and  an  eating-room  on  the  left; 
but  it  was  clean,  and  the  lunch  which  they  gave  me  was 
thoroughly  palatable.  I  climbed  the  ladder-stairs  in  rear  to 
the  few  guest-rooms,  finding  them  of  the  simplicity  of  patri- 
archal  times,   but  with   clean,   comfortable  beds. 

After  a  short  rest  I  sallied  forth  again,  stepping  across 
first  to  the  large  church  of  the  Incoronata,  which  rises  imme- 
diately east  of  the  inn ;  it  was  the  family  church  of  Vespasiano 
and  his  successors,  built  and  decorated  by  him,  together  with 
the  adjoining  nunnery  of  nursing  sisters,  which  was  the 
ducal  hospital  (now  the  Ospedale  Civico).  I  saw  a  tall, 
octagonal  drum  of  unplastered  brick,  faced  by  a  lower,  two- 
storied  vestibule  of  white  stucco,  looking  westward  over  the 
little  "  Piazza  Vespasiano," —  on  whose  north  side  sat  the 
albergo.  Three  large  stucco  archways  resting  on  doric  mar- 
ble columns,  formed  the  portico.  At  its  left  rose  the  stuccoed 
campanile,  to  a  double-arched  belfry  and  an  octagonal  lantern. 
Beside  this  was  a  doorway  into  the  adjacent  cloister  of  the 
hospital ;  through  which,  the  front  entrance  being  closed,  I 
was  admitted  by  a  sister  into  the  body  of  the  church. 

This  proved  to  be,  as  the  exterior  intimated,  in  the  style 
of  Bramante, —  a  two-storied  domed  rotunda  of  harmonious 
lines,  with  ornamental  depressed  arches  on  each  of  its  eight 
sides ;  three  of  these,  toward  the  front,  held  entrances, —  the 
smaller  ones  at  the  sides  being  topped  by  music  lofts ;  the 
rear  archway  framed  the  high-altar-recess,  that  upon  its  left 
contained  the  splendid  mausoleum  of  Vespasiano,  and  the 
other  three  held  subsidiary  altars.  Around  the  second  storey 
circled  the  customary  Bramantesque  gallery,  formed  by  two 


556  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

arches  on  each  side,  whose  pillars  rose  from  balustrades  that 
were  constructed  entirely  of  stucco  painted  a  deep  chocolate 
hue, —  perhaps  in  imitation  of  brown  marble;  corresponding 
to  each  arch  was  a  window  at  the  back  of  the  gallery.  From 
the  cornice  of  this  storey  sprang  the  slopes  of  the  dome,  fres- 
coed with  an  elaborate  architectural  scheme,  having  supposed 
niches  and  statues ;  and  from  the  crowning  lantern  fell  a  long 
shaft  of  shimmering  light.  It  was  almost  exactly  similar  to 
the  fine  edifices  of  Battaggia  at  Lodi  and  Crema, —  exceed- 
ingly graceful,  and  yet  imposing. 

The  paintings,  however,  did  not  compare  with  those 
churches,  being  poor  works  of  the  decadence.  But  the  mag- 
nificent monument  of  the  Duke  was  a  host  in  itself,  dominat- 
ing the  whole  enclosure  with  its  stately  form  and  its  sheen 
of  bright-hued  marbles.  The  sarcophagus  is  of  brown  vein- 
ing,  with  white  and  yellow  trimmings,  surmounted  by  a 
baroque  entablature;  upon  it  sits  the  lifesize  bronze 
statue  of  the  prince,  within  a  niche  flanked  by  handsome 
corinthian  columns;  at  his  sides  in  smaller  niches  are  two 
female  figures  of  marble, — "  Justice "  and  "  Fortitude." 
Vespasiano  is  represented  in  the  garb  of  a  Roman  general, 
with  one  hand  outstretched, —  in  recognition  of  his  fame 
as  a  soldier;  the  head  resembles  Marcus  Aurelius,  and  the 
whole  figure  is  most  lifelike  and  princely.  This  superb  mon- 
ument was  executed  by  that  fine  artist,  Giov.  Batt.  della 
Porta,  with  the  aid  of  Leone  Leoni,  who  did  the  bronze 
work. 

Departing  through  the  cloistered  garden, —  a  pleasant 
place,  with  its  flowerbeds,  gravelled  walks,  and  surrounding 
arcades  on  stuccoed  pillars, —  I  returned  to  the  Via  Giulia,  a 
block  to  the  west,  and  followed  it  to  its  end  close  by,  at  the 
northern  town-gate.  This  bulky  old  tower  was  picturesque: 
its  first  storey,  arching  the  deep  passage,  was  of  rusticated 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  MANTUA  557 

granite  blocks ;  its  second  —  on  the  inside  —  was  an  open 
loggia  supported  on  four  stuccoed  brick  pillars,  piled  high 
with  firewood,  lumber,  old  wagons  and  other  discarded  things. 
Without  lay  the  green,  slimy  moat,  shaded  by  willows  and 
plane-trees,  with  grasses  and  innumerable  scarlet  poppies 
growing  all  over  the  dark  decaying  walls;  a  chorus  of  crickets 
chirped  from  the  water's  edge,  larks  and  thrushes  twittered 
from  the  meadows,  and  from  an  adjacent  field,  where  peas- 
ants were*  gathering  hay,  a  pure  baritone  voice  was  singing 
an  air  from  "  La  Traviata." 

Returning  southward  on  Via  Giulia,  I  rejoined  my  cicerone 
at  the  theatre  of  Scamozzi,  which  we  at  once  entered.  It 
is  an  important  historical  relic,  being  coeval  with  Palladio's 
classic  theatre  at  Vicenza, —  which  Scamozzi  completed  after 
the  latter 's  death,  in  1584, —  and  considerably  earlier  than 
the  Farnese  theatre  at  Parma  (1618-28).  But  I  found  it 
much  smaller  than  either  of  those,  and  in  wretched  condition, 
—  the  stage  being  entirely  destroyed,  and  the  proscenium-arch 
consisting  only  of  a  painted  canvas,  now  dropping  to  pieces. 
The  seats  were  tiers  of  simple  benches,  rising  to  a  classic 
exedra  composed  of  12  Corinthian  marble  columns,  connected 
by  a  balustrade  and  a  stucco  entablature;  upon  the  latter 
stood  a  dozen  lifesize  plaster  statues  of  Greek  divinities,  more 
or  less  broken  and  dilapidated.  The  enclosing  walls  re- 
tained their  original  poor  frescoing,  of  an  architectural  scheme 
with  niches,  holding  supposed  statues  of  a  horrible  reddish- 
yellow  hue.  It  was  sad  to  behold  in  this  state  the  place  that 
was  once  the  scene  of  such  princely  gatherings  and  momentous 
revivals  of  the  histrionic  art. 

We  proceeded  thence  to  that  other  ruin,  the  Palazzo  del 
Giardino,  which  Vespasiano  had  decorated  by  the  Campi, 
and  various  other  artists  of  the  first  rank.  Several  of  the 
ground-floor  apartments  still  remained  habitable,  being  occu- 


558  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

pied  by  a  peasant  who  tilled  the  ground  of  the  former  garden ; 
amidst  those  remnants  of  lavish  beauty  in  stucchi  and  fres- 
coing, dwelt  beings  to  whom  it  spoke  never  a  word,  who 
every  week  defaced  another  priceless  artistic  relic,  unseeing, 
thoughtless.  Yet  they  were  kind-hearted  people,  and  ad- 
mitted me  to  their  living-room,  where,  enclosing  their 
poverty-stricken  furniture,  rose  walls  and  a  ceiling  covered 
wTith  charming  embellishments  of  the  Campi.  The  cornice 
and  the  mouldings  of  the  vaulting  were  delicately  wrought 
in  stucco;  the  central  square  panel,  the  4  ovals  on  the  slopes, 
and  others  in  the  corners,  were  all  painted  with  decorative 
figures,  now  badly  decayed ;  below  the  cornice  were  8  shell- 
like roundels  in  the  angles,  with  empty  corbels  that  once 
held  marble  busts.  Add  in  fancy  the  handsome  tapestries, 
the  gilt  furniture  and  precious  ornaments,  and  one  has  a 
fair  picture  of  this  ground-floor  suite  of  the  Duke, —  which 
was  doubtless  devoted  to  his  duties  as  a  ruler. 

The  remains  in  the  adjacent  chambers  were  similar  in 
style,  but  too  fragmentary  to  mention.  We  mounted  the 
old  stone  stairs  at  the  southern  end,  and  inspected  the  aban- 
doned piano  nobile,  finding  a  succession  of  gaily  stuccoed  and 
painted  ceilings,  more  or  less  faded  and  broken, —  exposed  to 
all  inclemencies  of  the  weather  by  the  paneless,  sashless 
windows.  The  first  room,  proceeding  north  along  the  facade, 
was  the  so-called  Sala  dei  Cesari,  formerly  adorned  with 
busts  of  Roman  emperors,  and  correlative  paintings,  of  which 
very  little  remained;  the  second  was  the  Sala  dei  Giuochi 
Olimpici,  so  called  from  the  two  interesting  frescoes  of  Olym- 
pian chariot-races,  still  fairly  clear,  showing  the  competitors, 
the  banked  audience,  and  the  line  of  marble  monuments 
dividing  the  course.  Both  of  these  rooms  conserved  their 
original  mosaic  pavements.  In  the  third,  the  Sala  delle  Im- 
prese,  the  paintings  were  still  better:  in  the  centre  of  the 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  MANTUA  559 

charming  vaulting  is  seen  what  appears  to  be  a  Venus  fondling 
a  noble  horse, —  probably  intended  for  Bellerophon  with 
Pegasus, —  and  roundabout  this  are  the  Fall  of  Phaeton, 
the  Fall  of  Icarus,  and  other  daring  undertakings  of  an- 
tiquity; the  admirable  frieze  depicts  eagles  and  caryatides 
with  festoons, —  betraying  the  same  hand  that  embellished  the 
Sala  dei  Cavalli. 

Next  came  a  delightful  little  domed  rotunda,  animated 
by  frescoed  scenes  with  many  small  figures,  on  all  sides,  its 
vaulting  made  attractive  by  numbers  of  playful  putti,  and 
graceful  white  stucchi  on  tinted  ground.  Here,  and  in  the 
adjacent  corridor,  lingered  the  original  handsome  pavement 
of  coloured  marbles.  There  succeeded  in  rear  the  spacious 
Sala  degli  Specchi,  or  ballroom, —  now  stripped  of  its  mir- 
rors, and  with  its  richly  carved  wooden  roof  quite  ruined; 
the  extensive  wall-decorations  of  painting  and  stucchi  were 
likewise  reduced  to  fragments.  Yet  what  a  superb  hall  it 
must  formerly  have  been ;  what  glittering  assemblies  it 
had  sheltered,  resplendent  in  the  silken,  jewelled  court-dresses 
of  the  late  Renaissance !  —  Finally,  at  the  southern  end  of 
the  rear  suite,  appeared  the  winsome  little  Gabinetto  del 
Bagno,  adorned  with  grotesques  over  all  its  walls, —  its  vault- 
ing one  mass  of  convoluted  stucco  foliage,  centered  by  a  fine 
Medusa's  head.  Here  again  I  noticed  the  original  beautiful 
marble  pavement,  reticulated  in  shades  of  dark  grey,  red, 
and  white. 

From  this  southern  end  of  the  palace  the  Galleria  branched 
off  to  the  east ;  and  I  stepped  now  into  its  long,  unbroken 
interior,  that  once  was  so  famous  for  the  harmony  of  its 
decorations  and  the  beauty  of  its  sculptures;  for  here  Ves- 
pasiano  gathered  more  than  100  precious  antique  marbles, — 
"  statues,  torsoes,  busts,  heads,  reliefs,  vases,  cinerary  urns 
of   great   value," —  a   most   valued   collection   in   those   neo- 


560  LOMBARD  TOWNS  OF  ITALY 

classic  days,  which  connoisseurs  came  far  to  see.  A  good 
portion  of  them  still  remained  in  situ  as  late  as  1779,  when 
they  were  removed  by  the  Austrian  authorities  to  the  Man- 
tuan  museum,  and  the  gallery  was  left  deserted  and  exposed 
to  the  weather.  I  now  saw,  therefore,  but  a  red-tiled  floor, 
a  whitened  wooden  roof,  and  a  long  succession  of  oblong 
sashless  windows  in  the  left  wall,  interspersed  after  every 
third  window  with  a  high,  oval  niche, —  both  walls  being 
elsewhere  covered  with  the  faded  frescoes  of  their  quondam 
glory.  These  represented  a  continuous  and  grandiose  archi- 
tectural scheme,  in  which  the  real  openings  took  their  part 
in  fanciful  frames,  with  an  abundance  of  cornices,  balconies, 
balustrades,  gables,  and  a  throng  of  painted  statues  of  god- 
desses and  amorini.  The  spaces  between  the  windows,  also, 
were  filled  with  large  varied  devices  or  patterns ;  and  from 
the  windows  a  near  view  was  commanded  of  the  remarkable 
oaken  cornice  of  the  palace,  which,  though  sadly  injured,  was 
still  a  mass  of  most  beautiful  carving,  with  richly  foliated 
consoles,  and  intervening  compartments  adorned  with  rosettes, 
bucantoria,  and  other  decorative  reliefs. 

A  final  visit  was  paid  by  me  to  the  interior  of  the 
parochial  church  in  the  piazza;  which  proved  to  be  a  spacious, 
domed  basilica  of  fair  Renaissance  lines,  with  a  handsome 
chapel  of  the  Sacrament,  a  number  of  decadent  paintings,  and 
two  excellent  marble  tombs  of  the  cinquecento  (beside  the 
entrance)  of  simple  and  graceful  designs. —  Regaining  then 
the  southern  gate,  I  was  just  in  time  to  catch  the  five  o'clock 
train  for  Mantua;  and  as  we  rolled  away  from  the  massive, 
towered  walls,  it  seemed  to  me  that  I  was  indeed  returning 
from  a  dead  and  petrified  city,  of  that  splendid  epoch  of  the 
cinquecento,  which  had  been  disturbed  by  no  mortal  foot- 
fall for  three  hundred  years;  I  realised  that  in  this  sleeping 
corner  of  the  world,  strange  victim  of  suspended  animation,  I 


THE  ENVIRONS  OF  MANTUA  561 

had  had  an  unforgettable  experience,  whose  like  would  prob- 
ably never  be  found  again.  And  since  this  experience  closed 
my  journeyings  through  the  glorious  old  towns  of  Lombardy, 
—  the  long  months  of  my  lingering  amid  the  inspiring  scenes 
of  their  heroic  past, —  I  was  returning  to  the  present  not 
merely  from  bygone  Sabbioneta,  but  from  that  whole  galaxy 
of  fascinating  cities  of  the  plain,  and  the  wondrous  world  of 
the  Renaissance  in  which  they  hold  the  visitor  enthralled. 


THE   END 


INDEX 


Abbiate:  119. 

Abbiategrasso:  288. 

Abbate,  Niccolodell':  430. 

Adalbert,  Emperor:  274. 

Addi  River,  the:  3,  74,  no,  in, 

281,  283,  286,  297-8. 
Adelaide,  Queen:  279. 
Agilulf,  King:  82,  325. 
Agriculture    of    Lombardy:    73- 

4,    113-4,    116,    143,    149,    289- 

290,  387-8,  545-6. 
Aguggiari,  Fra:  144,  146. 
Aignadel,  Battle  of:  418. 
d'Alba,  Macrino:  219. 
Alaric:  222-3,  325. 
Alboin:  225-6. 
Alberti,  Leon  Battista:  401,  412, 

435,  436-7,  449,  464- 

Albert  of  Brandenburg,  Mar- 
grave: 472. 

Aldus    (or  Aldo)  :  414,  416. 

Aleni,  Tommaso:  335,  379. 

Alessandria:  4. 

Alessi,  Gabriello:  211. 

St.  Alexander  (S.  Alessandro)  : 
3,  21. 

Alexander  III,  Pope:  180. 

Alzano:  69. 

Amadeo,  Giov.  Ant.:  41,  49-52, 
191,  198,  199,  201,  208-9,  2IO> 
213-4,  216,  244,  271,  278-9, 
363-4,  366,  370,  371. 

Amati,   Niccolo:   339. 

St.     Ambrose     (S.     Ambrogio)  : 

325- 
Amici,  Tommaso  (or  Formato)  : 

369- 


563 


Andes:  405,  543-4. 

Andrea  da  Pavia:  458. 

Andreasi,  Bishop:  438. 

Andreasi   (the  artist)  :  477. 

Andreasino:  509. 

S.  Angelo  Lodigiano:  286. 

d'Anguisciola,     family     of     the, 

and  Sophonisba:  339. 
Animals,  domestic,  of  the  plain: 

115. 
Anselmi,  Giorgio:  473. 
Anselmo,  counsellor  of  Countess 

Matilda:  447. 
Antegnate:  70. 
Antharis,  King:  82. 
Appiani,  Andrea:   105-106. 
Aragon,    Isabella   of:   221,   230, 

231,  232. 
Arduino,   of  Ivrea:  271. 
Aribert,  King:  278,  279. 
Ariberto  (Heribert),  Archbishop 

of  Milan:  152,  178. 
Ariosto:  416,  417. 
Arnolfo,  of  Germany:  4. 
Arrigo  II,  of  Germany:  271. 
Attila:  4,  152,  223,  325. 
St.   Augustine:    (256;    Area    of, 

222,  253,  254-6,  257.) 
Augustus,  Emperor:  222,  405-6. 
Aureolus:  3. 
Ave  Maria:  58-59. 


B 


Baldovinetti:  67. 

Balduccio,   Giov.:  254. 

Bandello:  417. 

Baradello,    Castle   of:    179,    180. 

Barbarossa,    Frederick:   4,    177- 


564 


INDEX 


180,      220,      228,      271-2,      282-4, 
307-9,    326. 

Barberini,  G.  B.:  380. 
Bartolommeo,  Fra :  277. 
Battaggia,  Giov.  Giacomo:  298- 

9,  3*9- 

Bayard,  Chevalier:  306. 

Basaiti:  66. 

Bassano:    Jacopo;    34,    373,-Le- 

andro;  22,  60-61. 
Beauharnais,      Prince      Eugene, 

and   Consort:  105,  426-7,  443, 

472,  533- 

Beatrice  d'Este,  see  Este. 

Beatrice  di  Tenda:  195-6. 

Beccafichi:   116. 

Beccaria,  the:  229,  278. 

Beggars,  and  begging:  53-54. 

Belfiore,  the  martyrs  of:  428, 
442,  465,   518. 

Belgiojoso:  (princes  and  town 
of,  288-9;  castle  of,  289;  Prin- 
cess Christina  Trivulzio  of, 
288-9.) 

Belli,  Giovanni:  17,  48. 

Bellini,   Gian:  55,   67,  277,  417, 

5°3- 
Bellini,  Gentile:  68. 
Bell-tower,   introduction  of   the: 

273. 
Bembo:     (Bonifazio,     250,     252, 

335,   381;    Cardinal,  414,  416, 

4*7>  543!  Gian  Francesco,  334, 

335.  36i,  376,  379-) 
S.  Benedetto  al  Po:  446-7,  544-5. 
Benzoni,  the:  310. 
Berengarius  I:  4,  95-6,  271. 
Berengarius   II:  279. 
Bergamaschi,  Giovanni:  379. 
Bergamasque    Mountains:    69. 
Bergamo,  Damiano  and  Stefano 

da:  17,  28,  47. 
Bergamo: 

Accademia   Carrara,  64-69; 

S.    Agostino,    (church    of,    62, 

— gate  of,  63)  ;  Alzano,  69;  S. 

Andrea,    57,    59-60;    Amadeo, 

Giov.   Ant,  41,  49-52;    Ales- 


sandri,  Cardinal  Longo  degli, 
tomb  of,  46;  S.  Alessandro 
della  Croce,  33;  S.  Alessan- 
dro in  Colonna,  21,  22;  St. 
Alexander,  3,  21;  Art  and 
artists  of,  1,  13-17;  Aspect 
and  situation  of,  1,  2,  19,  25 ; 
Aureolus,  3;  Attila,  4;  Ar- 
nolfo  of  Germany,  4;  Baldo- 
vinetti,  67;  Basaiti,  66;  Bap- 
tistery, the,  42,  43 ;  Bassano, 
(Jacopo,  34, — Leandro,  22, 
60-61);  SS.  Bartolomeo  e 
Stefano,  26-29;  Belli,  Giov., 
17,  48;  Berengarius,  4;  Ber- 
gamo, Damiano  and  Stefano 
da,  17,  28,  47;  S.  Bernardino, 
32-33;  Bellini,  (Gian,  55,  67, 
— Gentile,  68)  ;  Bissolo,  Pier 
Fran.,  2;  Boselli,  Ant.,  16,  47; 
Borgognone,  30,  66;  Boltraf- 
fio,  67;  Botticelli,  67;  Braman- 
tino,  64;  Brembana,  Val,  2, 
69;  Broletto,  37-39,  40;  Car- 
magnola,  10;  Cavagna,  Pa- 
olo, 17;  Capodiferro,  (Gian 
Fran.,  17,  48, — Pietro  and 
Zanino,  17)  ;  Campione,  (Gio- 
vanni da,  43,  45, — Ugo  da, 
46);  Caniana,  G.  B.,  52-53; 
Cathedral,  the,  42-43,  54-55; 
Castle  (or  Citadel)  the,  56- 
57;  Carpaccio,  66,  68;  Caval- 
lina,  Val,  69;  Cima  da  Coneg- 
liano,  66,  67,  68;  Civerchio, 
67;  Colleoni:  (family  of,  9, 
12; — Bartolomeo,  12,  36,  70- 
72, — Bart.,  monument  of,  49- 
51, — Capella  (Chapel  of  the), 
13,  40-41,  49-53,  198, — Luogo 
Pio,  13,  36, — Medea,  tomb  of, 
51-52)  ;  Santa  Croce,  Fran. 
da,  16,  34,  66,  68;  Credi, 
Lorenzo,  67;  Cross  (or  Cmci- 
fix)  of,  48 ;  Cariani,  Giov.,  2, 
16;  Santa  Croce,  Gir  da,  2; 
Dialect  of,  26;  Donizetti, 
Gaetano:  (18, — theatre  of,  23, 


INDEX 


565 


— monument  of,  23, — tomb  of, 
46);  Donatello,  67;  Duomo, 
see  Cathedral ;  Environs  and 
Excursions,  69-72;  Fantone, 
33;  Francia,  68;  Ferrari, 
Gaudenzio,  66;  Fiera  di  S. 
Alessandro,  24-25;  Gallienus, 
Emperor,  3 ;  Gasparin  da 
Bergamo,  17;  Garibaldi,  Pi- 
azza and  monument  of,  37-39; 
Galleries  of,  64-69;  Gentile 
da  Fabriano,  68 ;  Giorgione, 
68;  Giordano,  Luca,  46;  S. 
Grata  (3, — church  of,  56)  ; 
History  of,  2-13;  Hotel  of, 
19;  Hals,  Franz,  68;  Holbein, 
68;  Industries  of,  1;  Kauf- 
mann,  Angelica,  53;  S.  Leon- 
ardo, 20;  Leonardo  da  Vinci, 
68;  Lotto,  Lorenzo,  2,  15,  16, 
27-28,  31,  32,  34,  61,  66,  68, 
69;  Lombard  League,  4; 
Lodi,  Scipione  da,  31;  Mar- 
tinengo,  town  and  family 
of,  70,  71;  Malpaga,  70-72; 
Mantegna,  66,  68;  Mansueti, 
66,  68;  Marconi,  Rocco,  64; 
Mayr,  Giov.  Simone,  tomb  of, 
46;  S.  Maria  Maggiore: 
(northern  porch,  43-44, — 
southern  porch,  43,  45,  55, — 
exterior,  45, — interior,  45-49, 
— choir,  47-48, — sacristy,  48-49, 
— campanile,  55, — generally, 
I7,  39)  ;  Malatesta,  Pandolfo, 
9;  Milan,  Rule  of,  4.-11;  S. 
Michele  al  Pozzo  Bianco,  60- 
62;  Morone,  Fran.,  34,  66; 
Moretto,  33,  59-60,  67,  68; 
Moroni,  G.  B.,  2,  54,  66; 
Museum  (or  Museo  Carrara), 
64;  Napoleon  the  Great,  3, 
56,  58-59;  Nova,  Pietro  and 
Paxino  da,  13,  36,  46,  62; 
Palma  Vecchio,  2,  14,  34,  65, 
68;  Palma  Giovane,  33,  65; 
Paulus,  Jacopo,  62;  Pisano, 
Vittore,     67;     Pensaben,     Fra 


Marco,  69;  Pontida,  Piazza, 
20,  21 ;  Pontirolo,  (Pons  Au- 
reoli),  battle  of,  3;  Population 
of,  2 ;  Poscanthe,  Giov.  G. 
Gavasio  da,  22,  32,  34;  Pre- 
fettura,  the,  24;  Previtali, 
Andrea,  2,  14,  15,  29-30,  31, 
32,  34,  65,  66,  68;  Raphael,  68; 
Rembrandt,  67;  Reni,  Guido, 
68;  Romano,  70,  71,  72;  Ro- 
manino,  21,  70,  71;  Santa 
Croce,  (Fran,  da,  16,  34,  66, 
68, — Girolamo  da,  2)  ;  Scam- 
ozz',  37,  42,  .54;  Seriana, 
Val,  2,  69;  Signorelli,  67; 
Siry,  Sixtus,  50;  S.  Spirito, 
29-32;  Sodoma,  67;  Talpino, 
2,  17;  Tarsia,  and  its  artists, 
*7,  33-34,  47-48,  52-53;  Tasso, 
(Bernardo,  18, — Torquato, 

statue  of,  39)  ;  Tarsia,  chefs 
d'cewvres  of,  28,  33-34,  47-48, 
52-53;  Tiepolo,  G.  B.,  50,  55; 
Topography  of,  19,  20,  63; 
Trescorre,  61,  69 ;  Upper  city, 
(views  of,  25,  26,  63, — views 
from,  56,  57-58,  62-64)  !  Vene- 
tian rule  of,  10,  13;  Venusti, 
Marcello,  68;  Velasquez,  68; 
Visconti,  sway  of,  5-1 1;  Vit- 
torio  Emanuele,  Piazza  and 
monument  of,  19,  22,  23 ; 
Vivarini,  Bart.,  66;  Walls  of, 
see  Ramparts;  Zucco,  Fran- 
cesco, 17. 

Bertani,  G.  B.:  430,  462,  473, 
496. 

Bernardo  da   Venezia :  198,  202. 

Bernini,   Giov.  Lor.:  475. 

Bissolo,  Pier  Fran.:  2. 

Bird-destruction:  115-116. 

Bibbiena:  414. 

Binasco:  195-6. 

Boccaccino:  (Boccaccio,  333-4, 
360,  361,  362,  379,  381,  385, — 
Boccaccio  II,  462, — Camillo, 
338;9,    379,   398,— Fran.,    395.) 

Boethius:  224-5,  257-8,  261. 


566 


INDEX 


541-2. 
420, 


47- 


421, 


S.  Bonifazio,  Count  of:  407. 

Bonifazio:  378. 

Boltraffio:  67. 

Boniface,  Marquis  of  Canossa 
(or  Tuscany)  :  447. 

Bonsignori,  Fran.:  458,  541,  543. 

Borgognone,  Ambrogio:  30,  66, 
191,  204,  208,  209,  213,  215, 
218,  219,  298,  302-304,  306. 

Borgia,  Cesare:  418. 

Borromeo,  Cardinal,  Saint:  98, 
247. 

Borgani:  543. 

Boscodella   Fontana: 

Boschetti,     Isabella: 
463,  522,  527,  528. 

Boselli,  Antonio:  16, 

Botassi,  of  Milan:  293. 

Botticelli:  67. 

Bozzolo,  Principality  of, — see 
Sabbioneta:  546. 

Brancaforte:  440. 

Bramantino:  64. 

Bramante:  173,  180,  185,  191, 
208,  213,  231,  243-4,  262,  287, 
288. 

Briosco,  Ben.:  198,  200,  211. 

Brickwork,  Lombard,  master- 
pieces of:  101,  201-2,  258-260, 
309,  312-313,  315-316,  319-320, 

344-7,  35o-35i»  352-3,  370-1, 
459. —  (See  also,  "Terracotta, 
chefs  d'oewvres  of.") 

Brusasorci:  450,  462,  466,  509. 

Brembana,  Val:  2,  69. 

Brianza,  Monte:  (aspect  of,  76- 
79, — topography  of,  78, — coun- 
try-houses, and  grounds,  of, 
78-79, — villeggiatura,  life  and 
customs,    79-80.) 

Brunelleschi:  412,  432,  465. 

Buonacolsi,  the:  407-9,  442-3, 
444. 

Buonfigli,  of  Perugia:  276. 

Buoso  da  Doara:  327. 

Bussola,  Dionigi:  145. 

Bussolari,  Jacopo  de':  229, 

Busti,  Agostino:  200-201. 


Butti:  180. 

Busto  Arsizio: 

Artistic  importance  of,  171 ; 
Aspect  and  location  of,  172; 
Beata  Juliana,  statue  of  173 ; 
Bramante,  173;  Electric  plant 
and  power  of,  171;  Ferrari, 
Gaudenzio,  174-177;  S.  Gio- 
vanni, Piazza  and  church  of, 
172-173;  Lanini,  Bern.,  175; 
Luini,  Bern.,  175;  S.  Maria, 
church  of,  173-177;  Popula- 
tion of,  172;  Railways  to,  112, 
117,  171. 


Cacciatori  delle  Alpi:  136. 

Cairoli,  the:  (family  and  his- 
tory of,  253,  265-6, — monu- 
ment to,  the,  265-6.) 

Campione:  (Giovanni  da,  43, 
45, — Matteoda,  83,  86,  88,  95, 
254, — Ugo  da,  46, — Boninoda, 
250,254.) 

Campi,  the,  (history,  school,  and 
works  of)  :  293,  317-8,  321, 
322,  335-7,  370,  372,  375,  380, 
385,  386,  393,  395,  396-9,  430, 
438,.  552-554,  557-559- 

Campi:  (Galeazzo,  317,  335, 
379,  380;  Antonio,  317,  336, 
337,  362,  367,  3<>82  369,  372, 
375,  376,  393,  395,  552-4, 
557-9;  Vincenzo,  317,  337, 
375;  Felice,  474;  Bernardino, 
215,  317-8,  336,  337,  362,  378, 
379,.  397;8,.  552-4,   557-9-) 

Campi,  Giulio,  (see  also  under 
Mantua)  :  317,  322,  335-6,  337, 
367,  368,  372,  373,  376,  381-2, 

385,    393-4,    395,    396-9,  43°. 
Canals,     and    canal-system,     of 

Lombardy:   110-112,   195. 
Canals,  irrigating:  290. 
Caniana,   G.  B.:  52-53. 
Canossa:    (Count  Tebaldo  of, — 

see    Tebaldo;    Countess    Ma- 


INDEX 


567 


tilda    of,    (of   Tuscany), — see 
Matilda.) 

Canedole:  545-6. 

Capilupo:  431. 

Capodiferro:  Gian  Francesco, 
Pietro,  and  Zanino,  17,  48. 

Cariani,    Giovanni:   2,    16. 

Carmagnola:  10,  76,  83,  321, 
329-330. 

Carpaccio:   66,   68. 

Carroccio,  the:  178-179,  182-183. 

Carew,  Sir  Nicholas:  236. 

Caroto:  458,  466. 

Caravaggio,    Fermo   da:   493. 

Caravaggino:   533,    537. 

Casaglio:   372. 

Caracci,  Lodovico:  462. 

Casella,  Polidoro:  333,  365. 

Casatico:  402. 

Casalpusterengo:  287,  289. 

Casalmaggiore:  433. 

Castiglione:  (family  of,  112,  152, 
— Baldassare,  112,  152,  402, 
414,  416,  543, — Cardinal 
Branda,  112,  152,  153-4,  155, 
163-) 

Cassi,  Enrico:  265. 

Castelleone:  322. 

Castracani,   Castruccio:  83. 

Catena,   Vincenzo:   379. 

Cavallina,  Val :  69. 

Cavalcabo:  (family  of  the,  328- 
9, — Ugolino,   328-9.) 

Cavriana:  542. 

Cavalli,  Alberto:  554. 

Castiglione  Olona: 

Ariberto  (Heribert),  Arch- 
bishop, 152;  Aspect  and  situa- 
tion of,  112,  133,  150;  Attila, 
152;  Castiglione:  (family  of, 
112,  152, — Baldassare,  112, 
152, — Cardinal  Branda,  152, 
I53~4»  J55)  160,  163, — Palace 
of,  152,  153-4, — Castle  of,  152, 
— tomb  of  Card  Branda,  160)  ; 
Castello,  the,  152;  Collegiate, 
(church,  155-6,  158-161, — and 
Baptistery,   161-170)  ;   Griffus, 


Leonardus,  160;  History  of, 
ii2,  152;  Inn  of,  150-151,  170; 
Masolino  (da  Panicale),  153, 
r54>  I55>  r56-i70, — frescoes 
of,  154,  156-170;  Piazza  (cen- 
tral) del  Padre  Eterno,  151-2; 
Palazzo  Castiglione,  152, 
153-4;  Railways  to,  112,  133; 
S.  Sepolcro,  151,  152-3;  Stili- 
cho,  152. 

Cesare  del  Magno:  119,  123. 

Certosa  di  Pavia:  Alessi,  Gab., 
211;  d'Alba,  Macrino,  219; 
Amadeo,  Giov.  Ant.,  191,  198, 

199,  201,  208-9,  210,  213-4, 
215,  216;  Artistic  importance 
of,  188-9,  19I>  *97»  Art-treas- 
ures of,  188,  192-3;  Approach 
to,  196;  Bernardo  da  Venezia, 
198,   202;   Borgognone,  Amb., 

191,  204,  208,  209,  213,  215, 
218,  219;  Bramante,  191,  208, 
213;    Briosco,   Benedetto,    198, 

200,  211;    Building    of,    190- 

192,  198,  218;  Busti,  Agostino, 
200-201 ;  Campanile,  the,  202, 
218;  Campi,  Bern.,  215; 
Church,  the:  (facade,  see 
Facade;  Exterior,  side-walls, 
201, — transept  and  choir,  202, 
218, — tower,  202,  218;  Nave, 
202-203 1  Side-chapels,  203-4, 
218-219;  North  transept,  204, 
207-9;  South  transept,  211- 
215;  Choir,  209-211;  Monu- 
ments,— of  Lodovico  and 
Beatrice  Sforza,  204-7, — °f 
Gian  Gal.  Visconti,  211-213; 
Amadeo's  doorways,  208-9, 
213-4,  2I5>  216;  Old  sacristy, 
209;  New  sacristy,  213-4; 
Lavabo  (lavatory),  213-4; 
Cloister:  (smaller  (della 
Fontana),  215-218, — view 

from  last,  218, — greater, 
218)  ;  Doorways  of  Amadeo, 
208-9,  2I3;4>  215,  216;  En- 
trance-pavilion,  and  frescoes, 


568 


INDEX 


196;  Entrance-court,  196-7; 
Exterior  of  Certosa,  194,  196; 
d'Este,  Beatrice,  204-7,  214; 
Facade  of  church:  (building 
of,  191,  198, — aspect  of,  197- 
201, — windows  of,  199, — por- 
tal of,  200-201, — reliefs  of, 
200);  Fontana,  A.,  208; 
Founding  of,  189-190,  201; 
Fusina,  Andrea,  191 ;  Francis 
I,  King,  218;  Fries,  Theodore, 
of  Brussels,  210;  Highway  to, 
194-196;  History  of,  188,  189- 
*93>  J98;  Location  of,  190; 
Lavabo's  (Lavatories),  213-4, 
217;  Luini,  Bern.,  196,  214, 
215;  Mantegazzi:  (Cristo- 
foro,  198,  200, — Antonio,  198, 
200)  ;  Maffioli,  Alberto,  214; 
Monastic  dwellings,  218; 
Monastic  order  of,  190,  192-3, 
218;  Montagna,  Bart.,  215; 
Monuments,  see  Church;  Mu- 
seum, 219;  Novi,  Nardino, 
211,  212;  Orsolini,  Tommaso, 
209 ;  Palazzo  Ducale,  196, 
219;  Pellegrini,  Galeazzo, 
211;  Perugino,  20*3-4;  Pic- 
tures removed,  192-3 ;  Polli, 
Bart,  de',  210;  Porta,  Gia- 
como  della,  211;  Procaccini, 
218,  219;  Railway  to,  194; 
Refectory,  the,  217;  Riccio, 
A.,  218;  Romano,  Crist.,  211; 
Romano,  Gallida,  218;  Routes 
to,  193-4;  Sacristy,  see 
Church;  Sesto,  Stefano  da, 
210-211 ;  Sforza,  (Lodovico 
(II  Moro),  190-192,  198, 
204-7, — monument  of,  192, 
204-7);  Solari:  (Cristoforo, 
192,  206-7,  210, — Guiniforte, 
198);  Solario,  Andrea,  215; 
Stauris,  Rinaldo  de',  2x7,  218; 
Terracotta  work,  216-7,  218; 
Tombs,  see  Church ;  Ubbri- 
achi,  Bernardo  degli,  209; 
Vairone,  Biagio   da.  210-211; 


Vellata,  Pietro  di,  210;  Vis- 
conti:  (Gian  Galeazzo,  189- 
190,  201,  211-213,  215, — monu- 
ment of,  189,  211-213, — Filip- 
po  Mario,  218)  ;  Volpi,  Am- 
brogio,  209;  Wealth  of  mon- 
astery, and  its  Suppression, 
190,  192-193. 

Charles  VIII,  of  France:  11, 
232,  418. 

Charles  V,  Emperor:  12,  93, 
233-6,   384,  419-421,   495,   543- 

Charity  of   Italians:   53-54,   394. 

Charlemagne:  92,  226,  253,  271. 

Charles  of  Anjou:  327. 

Cheese  of  Lombardy:  290. 

Chiesa,  the  brothers :  304. 

Charles  I,  King  of  England: 
423- 

Church-architecture,  changes  by 
Lombards:  272-273. 

Cimada   Conegliano:  66,   67,  68. 

Civerchio:  67,  311,  318,  378. 

Clusone:  69. 

Clarence,  Duke  of,  Wedding  of: 
250. 

Clementi,    Prospero:  438. 

Colleoni:  (family  of,  9,  12,  70, 
— Cappella,  see  Bergamo, — 
Bartolomeo,  12,  36,  49-56,  70- 
72,  75-76,  83-84,  33^,— Pietro, 
75-76.) 

Como,  (Lake  of:  2, — mountains 
of,  77,  108.) 

Company  of  Death:  178,   179. 

Columbus,  Crist.:  245. 

Commessaggio:  548. 

Constantius,  Emperor:  222. 

Conradin:  '228. 

Correggio:  277,  416,  417,  423, 
503. 

Cortenuova,   Battle  of:   309-310. 

Costa,  Lorenzo:  417,  418,  424, 
438,  458,  466,  484,  502-3,  509, 
543- 

Costa,  Lorenzo,  junior:  474,  477, 
509. 

Costa,  Luigi:  466,  509. 


INDEX 


569 


Council,  Church,  (at  Mantua  in 
1064, — 448  ;  in  1459, — 443, 
471-2.) 

Country-houses  and  -life:  78- 
80. 

Credi,  Lorenzo  di:  67,   379. 

Crespi,  D.  and  G.  B. :  245. 

Crosaccio:   372. 

Cremona,  Bertesi   da:  365. 

Cremona,  Arighi  da:  366. 

Cremona,  Diet  of:  327. 

Crema:  Battaggia,  Giov.  Gia- 
como,  319;  Benzi,  monument 
of,  318;  Benzoni,  the,  310; 
Campanile,  the, — see  Cathe- 
dral; Campi,  history  and 
works  of  the,  317-8,  321,  322; 
Castelleone,  322;  Cathedral, 
the:  (309;  exterior,  312-313; 
facade,  312,  315-6;  campanile, 
312-3;  portal,  315;  nave,  317- 
318;  side-altars,  318;  can- 
vases, 317-8;  Civerchio,  paint- 
ing of,  318;  Benzi,  monument 
of,  318) — Civerchio,  Vin- 
cenzo,  311,  318;  Clock-tower, 
the  city,  314,  318;  Cortenuova, 
battle  of,  309-310;  Destruc- 
tion of,  307-9 ;  Duomo,  (Pi- 
azza del,  312,  313-4, — building 
of  the,  see  Cathedral)  ;  Fred- 
erick I,  Barbarossa,  307-9; 
Frederick  II,  309-310;  Gari- 
baldi, Piazza  and  statue  of, 
312;  Guelfic  city,  307-9;  His- 
tory of,  7,  307-310;  Hotel  of, 
316-7;  Incoronata,  church  of 
the,  at  Castelleone,  322;  S. 
Maria  della  Croce,  319-321; 
S.  Maria  delle  Grazie  (at 
Soncino),  322;  Monfredini, 
368;  Municipio,  the,  314; 
Ombriano,  311;  Palazzo 
Rossi,  311;  Palazzo  Munici- 
pale,  314;  Palazzo  Sforza 
(at  Soncino),  321;  Palazzo 
Vescovile,  314;  Palazzo  Viala 
(at      Soncino,      322;      Piazza, 


Calisto,  319;  Piazza,  Martino 
and  Albertino,  322;  Pius  IX, 
Pope,  statue  of,  318;  Popula- 
tion of,  307;  Porta  Serio,  311, 
312;  Porta  Ombriano,  318-9; 
Railway  and  station,  31 1-3 12, 
322;  Ramparts,  311;  Rebuild- 
ing of,  309 ;  Sacchis,  Agostino 
de',  368;  Sforza,  Francesco, 
310;  Siege  of,  308;  Soncino, 
town  and  battle  of,  321-2; 
Terracotta  and  brickwork  of, 
3°9,  3!3,  3I5"3l6;  Torre  Pal- 
lavicina,  322;  Tramways  to 
and  from,  306-7,  311,  321; 
SS.  Trinita,  319;  Venetian 
rule,  310;  Via  Mazzini,  312; 
Villa  Baroi  (at  Torre  Palla- 
vicina),  322;  Visconti:  (rule 
of  the,  310, — Filippo  Mario, 
310, — Gabriello,  310)  ;  Walls, 
see  Ramparts. 
Cremona: 

S.  Abbondio,  392-4;  S. 
Agata,  342,  384-5;  Agilulf, 
King,  325;  S.  Agostino,  334, 
380-381;  Arch'wio  Noiarile, 
384;  Aleni,  Tommaso,  335, 
379;  Amadeo,  Giov.  Ant., 
363-4,  366,  370,  371;  Arna- 
deo's  Doorway,  371 ;  Alaric, 
325;  Amati,  Niccolo,  339; 
Amici,  Tommaso  (or  For- 
mato),  369;  d'Anguisciola : 
the  family  of  the,  339, — So- 
phonisba,  339)  ;  Aspect  of, 
from  the  Torazzo,  354; 
Arighi  da  Cremona,  366;  Ar- 
tistic history  of,  332-340;  Art 
of,  school  of,  317-8,  332-9; 
Attila,  325;  Aspect  of,  383, 
390;  Barberini,  G.  B.,  380; 
Baptistery,  the,  345,  351-2, 
370;  Bassano,  Jacopo,  373; 
Bembo,  Bonifazio,  335,  381 ; 
Bembo,  Gian  Fran.,  334,  335, 
361,  376,  379;  Bertesi  da  Cre- 
mona,   365 ;    Bertazzola,    the, 


57o 


INDEX 


345-6,  347,  349"35o;  Berga- 
maschi,  Giov.,  379;  Boccac- 
cino:  (Boccaccio,  333-4,  360, 
361,  362,  367,  379,  381,  385, — 
Camillo,  338-9,  379,  398,. — 
Francesco,  395)  ;  Buoso  da 
Doara,  327;  Burning  of,  325; 
Campi:  (family  and  school  of 
the,     317-8,     335-7,     370,     372, 

375,  380,  385,  386,  393,  395, 
396-399,— Galeazzo,  317,  335, 
379,    380, — Antonio,    317,    336- 

7,  362,  367,  368,  369,  372,  375, 

376,  381,  393,  395, — Vincenzo, 
317,  337,  375,— Giulio,  317, 
335-6,  337,  341,  367,  368,  372, 
373,  376,  381-2,  385,  393-4, 
395,    396-9, — Bernardino,    317- 

8,  336,  337,  362,  378,  379, 
397-8)  ;  Campanile,  the,  see 
Torrazzo;  Caccia  del  Toro, 
345;  Casaglio,  372;  Catena, 
Vincenzo,  379;  Catapene, 
Luca,  366;  Campo  Santo,  the, 
373-4;  Casella,  Polidoro,  333, 
365;  Carmagnola,  329-330; 
Cathedral,  the:  (history  of, 
332-3,  349;  artists  of,  333-5; 
fagade,  347-9;  tower  {cam- 
panile), 346-7;  portal,  347-8; 
loggia,  345-6,  347,  349-35o; 
northern  transept  facade,  350- 
351 ;  southern  transept  fa- 
cade, 374;  nave,  357-365 ; 
choir,  359-360,  362,  368; 
frieze,  the  great,  361-3;  pul- 
pits, the,  363-4;  aisles  and 
side-altars,  365-6;  northern 
transept,  366-7;  southern  tran- 
sept, 368-9;  sacristy,  368; 
choir-chapels,  367,  368;  crypt, 
369-370)  ;       Cavalcabo,       the 

(328-9, — Ugolino,  328-9)  ; 

Celtic  rule,  324;  Charles  of 
Anjou,  327;  Churches  of,  374, 
394-395  ;  Charles  V,  Emperor, 
384;  Civerchio,  378;  Colleoni, 
Bart.,    330;     Corso    Umberto, 


391-2;  Corso  Garibaldi,  342, 
385-6;  Corso  Vittorio  Emanu- 
ele,  342;  Credi,  Lor.  da,  379; 
Crosaccio,  372;  Cross  (or 
Crucifix),  the,  of  Cremona, 
368;  Dati  (palace,  and  hos- 
pital of,  389-390, — Marchesa, 
389-390)  ;  Destruction  of,  by 
Agilulf,  325;  Diet  of,  327; 
Diotti,  362;  Dominican  mon- 
astery, 343 ;  Egyptian  Mar- 
tyrs, tomb  of  the,  363-4;  Eu- 
gene, Prince,  332;  SS.  Euse- 
bio  e  Facio,  394;  Festivals, 
mediaeval,  345;  Fondulo,  Ga- 
brino,  328-9,  356;  Fodre, 
Marchese,  and  palace  of,  391- 
2;  Francia,  379;  Francis  I, 
King,  331 ;  French  rule,  331- 
2;  Frederick  Barbarossa,  326; 
Gambara,  Lattanzio,  377; 
Gatti:  (Bernardino  (II  Soia- 
r°),  338,  359,  360,  361,  362, 
372,  376,  377, — Gervasio,  II 
Soiaro  II),  338,  369,  376,  377, 
381,  395)  ;  Garibaldi,  384; 
Ghibelline  leadership  of,  326- 
7 ;  S.  Giacomo  in  Breda, — see 
S.  Agostino;  SS.  Giacomo  e 
Vincenzo,  395  ;  Gonsalvo,  Gen., 
331,  332;  Guelfic  domination 
of,  326,  327,  328;  Guarnieri, 
Gius.  Ant.,  340;  Hannibal, 
324;  Henry  VII,  Emp.,  328; 
History  of:  (7,  324-332; — 
Celtic,  324; — Roman,  324-5; 
— Alaric  and  Attila,  325; — 
Gothic,  325  ; — Lombard,  325  ; 
— independent,  325-7; — Ghib- 
elline leadership,  326-7; — in- 
ternecine strife,  326-7; — Bu- 
oso da  Doara,  327,  328  ; — Pal- 
lavicino,  Mar.,  327; — Charles 
of  Anjou,  327; — Visconti  rule, 
327-8,  329-330; — Cavalcabo 
tyranny,  328-9  ; — Fondulo  tyr- 
anny, 328-9; — Sforza  rule, 
330-331; — Venetian  rule,  331; 


INDEX 


57i 


— French  rule,  331-2; — Span- 
ish rule,  331,  332) — Hotel  of, 
342-3;  Imperialism  of,  326-7; 
Independent  republic  of,  325- 
7;  Internecine  strife,  326-7; 
John  XXIII,  Pope,  329,  356; 
Lamberti,  375;  Lateranensi 
monastery,  377-8;  Lescun, 
Gen.,  331 ;  Lodi,  Ermenigi  da, 
375,  376;  Lombard  sculptures, 
347-8,  350;  Loggia,  the  Ca- 
thedral— ,  see  Bertazzola;  S. 
Lorenzo  (demolished),  364; 
Louis  XII,  King,  331;  Lom- 
bard rule  of,  325;  Lombard 
League,  326;  S.  Luca,  385-6; 
Malatesta,  Carlo,  329-330; 
Mainardi,  378,  381;  Malosso, 
II,  (Cav.  Trotti),  339,  367, 
369,  372,  375,  376-7,  378,  380, 
381;  S.  Margherita,  341,  381- 
2;  Majo,  Fran,  (or  F.  Ma- 
bilo  de'  Mazo),  369;  Melone, 
Altobello,  334-5,  361,  362,  392, 
393;  S.  Michele,  395;  Mira- 
dori,  372;  Monte  di  Pieta, 
391-2;  Moretti,  Crist.,  333, 
362-3;  Municipio, — see  Palaz- 
zo Municipale;  Museo  Civi- 
co,  378-380;  Name,  supposi- 
tious derivation  of,  324;  Nat- 
ali,  376;  Nani,  Sebastiano  da, 
347;  S.  Nicolo,  altar  of,  369; 
S.  Omobuono,  life  and  body 
of,  364-5;  Ospedale  Civico, 
394;  Pallavicino,  Mar.,  327; 
Palazzi:  (Reale,  378,— Pub- 
blico,  see  Pal.  Municipale, — 
Giurisconsulti,  345,  352-3, — 
Crotti,  386, — Stanga,  386-7, — 
Trecchi,  384,— Maggi,  _  385,— 
Dati,       389-390, — Municipale, 

345,  .352-3,  371-3,  374)  ;  Pas" 

seggio  Pubblico,  394;  S.  Pela- 
gia,  395;  Perugino,  334,  381; 
Pedoni,  Giov.  Gaspare,  372-3, 
386;  Sts.  Peter  and  Marcel- 
linus,    tomb    of,    366-7,    370; 


Platina,  Giov.  Maria,  368; 
Piazza:  (del  Commune,  341, 
344-6,  351-3—  Roma,  341,  342- 
4, — Garibaldi,  342,  384-385, — 
Pescherie,  342,  374, — Cavour, 
353-4;  S.  Pietroal  Po,  374-8)  ; 
SS.  Pietro  e  Marcellino,  395; 
Ponchielli,  Amilcare,  (statue 
to,  344, — Theatre  Ponchielli, 
378)  ;  Porta  Venezia,  341,  342, 
395;  Porta  al  Po,  341,  342, 
378;  Porta  Milano,  341,  386; 
Po  river,  the,  341,  378;  Po- 
rata,  Giacomo,  347,  348 ; 
Population  of,  332;  Porde- 
none,  335,  360,  363,  365;  Poz- 
zi,  Ambr.  da,  368;  Ramparts, 
the,  394;  Reconstruction  of, 
325;  Roman  rule  of,  324-5, 
342;  Romanino,  335,  363; 
Roman  city  of,  342 ;  Romano, 
Crist.,  385;  Ricca,  Bern.,  366; 
Ricca,  Battista,  377;  Sack  of, 
328;  Scala,  Mastino  della, 
327;  School  of  Painting  of, 
332-9;  Secchi,  Bramante,  385; 
Shrine  (of  the  Egyptian  Mar- 
tyrs, 363-4, — of  Sts.  Peter  and 
Marcellinus,  366-7,  370)  ; 
Sf orza :  (rule  of  the,  330-331, 
— Francesco,  330,  337,  398-9, — 
Lodovico,  330-331, — Bianca 
(Visconti),  330-331)  ;  S.  Siro, 
394;  Sigismund,  Emperor, 
329,  356;  S.  Sigismondo,  337, 
341,  395-9;  Soiaro,  II, — see 
Gatti ;  Spanish  rule,  and  deso- 
lation of  the,  331,  332;  Stan- 
ga: (palace  of  the,  386-7, — 
Marchese  Ildefonso,  387-9, — 
model  farm  of,  387-8)  ;  Stra- 
divari, Ant.,  340;  Tarsia,  Pie- 
tro della,  368;  Teatro  (Thea- 
tre) Ponchielli,  378;  Terra- 
cotta and  brickwork  of,  326, 
386-7,  389,  391-2;  Trecchi, 
Mar.  Fran.,  tomb  of,  385;  To- 
razzo,     the     (346-7,     354"6, — 


572 


INDEX 


view  from,  354-5)  ;  Towers, 
mediaeval,  374;  Tower  of 
Cremona,  the, — see  Torrazzo; 
Topography  of,  341-2,  383; 
Triumvirate,  the  Second,  325; 
Van  Orleys,  379;  Venetian 
rule  of,  331 ;  Vespasian,  Emp., 
325;  Visconti:  (Otto  (Otho), 
327-8, — Azzo,  328, — rule  of 
the,  _  327-8,  329-330, — Filippo 
Mario,  329-330)  ;  Villari, 
Gen.,  332;  Violin  industry  of, 
and  its  masters,  339-340,  380; 
Via  al  (Viale  del)  Po,  341, 
378;  Vida,  Marco  Gir.,  340- 
34J>  377>  395!  Vittorio  Eman- 
uele  II,  statue  of,  354;  Walls 
of, — see  Ramprrts. 

D 

Decoration,  gaudy,  of  churches: 

382-383- 
Delia  Torre:  (the  family  of  the, 

5,  6,  284, — Martino,  284). 
Desiderius:  226. 
Desolation  of  Lombardy,  under 

the  Spaniards:  235-7. 
D'Este, — see  Este. 
Diotti:  362. 

Doara,  Buosa  da:  327. 
Dolcebono:  243-4,  298. 
Donatello:  67,  413. 
Donizetti,  Gaetano:  18,  23,  46. 
Dossi,  Dosso:  466,  503. 


D'Edesia,  Andrino:  269,  272, 
280. 

Electric  power-plants  of  Lom- 
bardy: 171,  184. 

Electric  railroads  of  Lombardy: 

171- 

Eleemosynary     institutions:     54, 

3.94" 
Epiphanius:  223,  224. 
D'Este:    (see    also   under   Man- 


tua), (Beatrice,  204-7,  214, 
221,  230-232,  414,  479-485» 
499  ; — Beatrice,  Archduchess 
of  Austria,  104,  105  ; — Isabel- 
la, 401-403,  414-421,  458,  479- 
485,  499,  500-507,  510-511,  517, 
540,  541 ). 

Eugene,  Prince:  332. 

Ezzelino  da  Romano:  327,  407. 


Fabriano,  Gentile  da:  68. 

Fallabrini,  the:  229. 

Fantone:  33. 

Farinata,  Paolo:  277,  450,  545. 

Farini,  Benedetto:  321-322. 

Farms  of  Lombardy:  11 3-4,  149- 
150. 

Farmers,  land-owning:  149-150. 

Favorita,  Palazzo  (or  Villa)  : 
460,  542. 

Faenza,  Luca  da:  493. 

Feltre,  Bernardino  da:  260. 

Feltre,  Vittorino  da:  412,  544. 

Ferdinand,  Archduke,  Governor 
of  Lombardy:  104-5. 

Ferdinand  II,  King:  424-5. 

Ferramola:  70. 

Ferrari,  Gandenzio:  66,  112, 
119-120,  123,  124-5,  174-7,  287. 

Feti,  Dom. :  450. 

Fiori,  Monte  dei:  see  page  74. 

Fisiraga,  the:  (284,  285, — An- 
tonio, 284,  285.) 

Fontana  A. :  208. 

Fondulo,  Gabrino:  328-9,  356. 

Foppa,  Vincenzo:  250,  252. 

Fornovo,    Battle    of:    418,    457, 

5I5-. 
Francia:  68,  379,  417,  466. 
Francis  I,  King:  218,  233-5,  306, 

33I-. 

Francis   III,    Duke    of   Modena, 

and  Varese:  135,  140. 
Franchetti,  Baron,  model  estate 

of:  545-6. 
Frederick  I,  Barbarossa:  4,  177- 


INDEX 


573 


180,    220,    228,    271-2,    282-4, 

307-9,  326. 
Frederick    II:    4,    220,    309-310, 

407. 
Francelli,  Luca:  413. 
Fries,    Theodore,    of    Brussels: 

210. 
Fusina,  Andrea:  191. 


Gallarate:  171. 
Gallienus,  Emperor:  3. 
Gambera,  Lattanzio:  377. 
Garbieri,  Lor.:  462. 
Garibaldi:  136,  253,  384. 
Gasparin  da  Bergamo:  17. 
Gatti,  Bern.:  338,  359,  360,  361, 

362,  372,  376,  377. 
Gatti,  Gerv.:  338,  369,  376,  381, 

395- 
Gentile  da  Fabriano:  68. 
Ghibello,  Battle  of:  284,  326. 
Ghibelline   and    Guelf   customs: 

5,6. 
Giorgione:  14,  68. 
Giordano,  Luca:  46. 
Giovenone,  Gir. :  139,  277. 
Goito,  Villa  of:  413,  541. 
Gonsalvo,  General:  331,  332. 
Gonzales,  Fran.:  261. 
Gonzaga:    (town  and  castle  of, 

441,  541,  545, — family  of,  and 

its    members,    etc.,    see    under 

Mantua). 
Grata,   Santa:   3. 
Griffus,   Leonardus:    160. 
Guarnieri,   Guiseppe  Ant.:   340. 
Guastalla,   dukes   and   town   of: 

422,  424,  545. 
Guercino:  90. 
Guisoni,   Fermo:   430,   439,   450, 

486. 
Guelf   and    Ghibelline   customs: 

5,  6. 

H 

Hals,  Franz:  67. 
Henry  II,  Emp. :  227. 


Henry  IV,  Emp. :  446,  447. 

Henry  VII,  Emp.:  6,  220,  228- 
9,   284,   328,  408. 

Heribert  (Ariberto),  Arch- 
bishop of  Milan:  152,  178. 

Hildebrand:    447,    448. 

Holbein:  68. 

Honorius,  Emp.:  222-3. 

Hofer,    Andreas:  460. 

Hospitals    of    Italy:    394. 

Humbert,  King:  see  Umberto  I. 

Hunting  in  Lombardy:  115- 
116. 


Ideal     Piazza     of     the     Middle 

Ages:  344:6. 
Inquisition    in    Lombardy:    236, 

237. 
Insubres,   the   Celtic:   281. 
Iron    Crown   of   Lombardy:   see 

under    Monza. 
Irrigation  in  Lombardy:  290. 
Iseo,  Lake  of:  2,  69-70. 

J  and  K 

Jesuistry     in     Lombardy:     236, 

237. 
Jesuitical     control     of     Italians: 

382-3. 
John  XXIII,  Pope:  329,  356. 
Joseph  II,  Emp.:  237. 
Justinian,  Emp.:  225. 
Kaufmann,  Angelica:  53. 


Lambro   river:   in. 
Land-holdings      of      Lombardy: 

113-4,   149-150. 
Lanini,     Bern.:     119,     123,     175, 

180,    185-6,   287. 
S.    Lanfranco:    (278, — Area    of, 

278-9.) 
Lamberti,   of  Firenze:   375. 
Lanzano:  293. 


574 


INDEX 


Laus   Pompeia:    281-2,    305-6. 
Lautrec,  General:  233,  235,  251. 
League  of  Cambrai:  418. 
League,     Lombard:     see     Lom- 
bard. 
Lecco,    Mountains    of    Lake    of: 

74- 

Legnano,  Battle  of:   177,   183. 

Legnano,  town  of: 

Aspect  and  situation  of, 
hi,  181;  Battle  of,  177,  183; 
Bramante,  180,  185;  Carroc- 
cio,  the,  178-9,  182-3;  Com- 
pany of  Death,  the,  178,  179; 
Electric  power  of,  171,  184; 
Frederick  I,  Barbarossa,  177- 
180;  History  of,  177-180;  In- 
dustries of,  180-181,  183; 
Lanini,  180,  185-6;  Luini, 
Bern.,  180,  186-7;  s-  Magno, 
church  of,  185-7;  Monument 
of  Italian  Freedom,  180, 
181-3;  Municipio  (Palazzo 
Municipale),  185;  Piazza 
Umberto,  184;  Population  of, 
180;   Railway  to,   112. 

Leonbruno,  Lorenzo:  486,  501. 

Leoni,   Leone:   556. 

Leonardo  da  Vinci:  11,  68,  118, 

245i   303-4.  4J6- 

Lescun,  General:  285,  331. 

Leyva,   General:  235-6. 

Liberale,  da  Verona:  276. 

Livia,  Empress:  222. 

Lodigiano,   the:   289-290,    305. 

Lodi,   Ermenigi   da:   375,   376. 

Lodi,  Diet  of:  283. 

Lodi,  Scipione  da:  31. 

Lodi,  Battle  of:  3,  286,  297-8. 

Lodi,   City  of: 

Adda  river,  281,  283,  286, 
297-8;  S.  Agnese,  297;  As- 
pect of,  291-2,  297;  Borgo- 
gnone,  298,  302-4;  Botassi,  of 
Milan,  293;  Battle  of,  3,  281, 
286,  297-8;  Battaggia,  Giov. 
Giacomo,  298-9;  Campi,  the, 
of   Cremona,   293 ;    Cathedral, 


the:  (location,  291;  facade, 
291-2;  campanile,  291-2; 
portal,  292;  nave,  292-3; 
Botassi,  293;  chapels,  293, 
294;  Campi,  the,  293;  Lan- 
zano,  293 ;  Procaccini,  293 ; 
Malosso,  293;  crypt,  293; 
Last  Supper,  relief  of,  294; 
Piazza,  Alb.  and  Calisto,  294- 
5.) — Cheese  (Parmesan)  of, 
290;  Chiesa,  the  brothers, 
304;  Countryside  of  (the  Lo- 
digiano), 289-290;  Destruc- 
tion of,  by  Milan,  282;  Diet 
of,  283;  Dolcebono,  298;  Du- 
omo,  see  Cathedral;  Fisiraga: 
(family  of  the,  284,  285, — An- 
tonio, 284,  285)  ;  Frederick  I, 
Barbarossa,  282-284;  French 
occupation  of,  285;  Ghibelline 
leadership  of,  282-4;  Guelfic 
domination  of,  283,  284; 
Henry  VII,  Emp.,  284;  His- 
tory of,  5,  281-6;  Imperialism 
of  281,  282-4;  inn  °f>  291; 
Incoronata,  church  of  the 
(295,  298-305;  history  of,  298- 
9;  facade,  299;  nave,  299- 
301 ;  general  frescoing  of,  300- 
301 ;  choir,  302  ;  canvas-paint- 
ings, 301-305)  ;  Irrigation  of 
the  Lodigiano,  290;  Lanzano, 
293 ;  Last  Supper,  mediaeval 
relief  of  the,  294;  Laus  Pom- 
peia, 281-2,  305-6;  Lescun, 
General,  285 ;  Location  of, 
281,  283;  Lombard  League, 
283,  284;  S.  Lorenzo,  295-6; 
Malosso,  293;  Milan,  destruc- 
tion of,  283-4;  Milanese  rule 
of,  284-5;  Municipio  (Palazzo 
Municipale),  291,  295;  Na- 
poleon the  Great,  281,  286, 
298 ;  Piazza  Maggiore,  291, 
295;  Piazza:  School,  family, 
members,  and  works  of  the: 
(School  of  the,  295,  296,  298, 
301,  302;  Albertino,  294,  295, 


INDEX 


575 


297.  301-2,  304;  Calisto,  294- 
5,  301,  302,  304;  Martino,  295, 
297>  301,  3°2,  304;  Fulvio, 
304;  Population  of,  281;  Pro- 
caccini,  293  ;  Railways  to,  286, 
287,  289-90,  306;  Ramparts, 
305;  Rebuilding  of,  283; 
Spanish  rule  of,  285-6; 
Strabo,  Pompeius,  281 ;  Ti- 
ziano  (Titian),  302;  To- 
pography of,  290-291 ;  Torre, 
Martino  della,  284;  Tram- 
ways to,  286-7,  306-7;  Vig- 
nate,  Giov.,  285;  Visconti: 
(rule  of  the,  284-5;  Filippo 
Mario,  285;  Otho  (or  Otto), 
284);  Vistarini,  the,  285; 
Walls  of:  see  Ramparts. 

Lombard  League:  4,  177-180, 
183,  283,  284,  326,  407. 

Lombard  Monarchs:  81-82,  271. 

Lombard  Sculpture:  266-9,  27I> 
294.  350. 

Lombard  Racial  characteristics: 
268-269. 

Lombard  Church-Architecture: 
221-2,  266-273. 

Lombard  Changes  in  church- 
architecture:  272-3. 

Lombard  Spirit  of  Freedom: 
268-9. 

Lombard   Mosaic:  271. 

Lombardy,  Agriculture  and 
crops  of, — see  Agriculture  and 
Plain. 

Lombardy:  (canals  and  water- 
ways of,  110-112;  171;  west- 
ern boundary  of,  no,  171.) 

Lombardy:  see  also  Plain  and 
Milanese. 

Lombardi,  Tullio:  484,  490. 

Longasco,   Ricciardino:  229. 

Longasco,   the:  229. 

Lomellina,  the:  287. 

St.  Longinus:  438,  439. 

Lotto,  Lorenzo:  2,  15,  16,  27-28, 
31,  32,  34,  61,  66,  68,  69. 

Lothaire,  Emp.:  227-8. 


Lothaire,   King:  279. 

Louis   XII,    of    France:    n,    12, 

232-3,   33i,  4i8. 
Louis  XIII  of  France:  424. 
Louis    (or   Lewis)    of    Bavaria, 

Emperor:  83,  408,  409. 
Lovere:  69-70. 
Luini,  Bernardino:  95,  112,  118- 

9,  123,  126-131,  175,  180,  186- 

7,  190,  196,  214,  215,  277. 
Luitprand,  King:  253,  257,  258. 

M. 

Maderno,  town  and  Villa:  542. 
Majo,   Fran,    (or  F.  Mabilo  de' 

Mazo)  :  369. 
Magnentius,   Emp.:   222. 
Maglioli,    Sperandio:   438. 
Maggiore,    Lago     (Lake)  :    no, 

in,  112. 
Maffioli,  Alberto:  214. 
Malatesta,  Carlo:  329-330. 
Malatesta,  Pandolfo:  9. 
Malpaga:  70-72. 
Malosso,   II    (Cav.  Trotti)    293, 

339.  367,  369,  372,  375,  376-7. 

378,  380,  381. 
Mainardi:    378,    381. 
Mantoanello:   531. 
Mantegna,  Andrea:  66,  68,  401, 

413,   421,   424,   437,   455,   457, 

458,    486,    489,    502,    5"-5i7, 

539,  54i- 
Mantegna,  Francesco:  438. 
Mansueti:  66,   68. 
Mantegazza,  Antonio:   198,  200. 
Mantegazza,     Cristoforo:     198, 

200. 
Manto:  404. 
Mantovani,    Rinaldo:   430,    486, 

489,   493,    523,    525,    527,    528, 

537- 
Mantovani,   Battista:   523. 
Mantovani,    Camillo:   525. 
Mantua   (Mantova)  : 

Abbate,   Niccolo  dell',  430; 

Accademia      Virgiliana,     454, 


576 


INDEX 


457-8 ;  Alberti,  Leon  Bait., 
401,  412,  435,  436-7,  449,  464, 
516;  Andes,  405,  543-4;  S. 
Andrea,  412,  435-9;  Aldus  (or 
Aldo)  of  Venice,  414,  416; 
Andreasi,  Bishop,  tomb  of, 
438;  Alps,  view  of  the,  451, 
459,  488,  494;  Andrea  da 
Pavia,  458;  Anselmo,  coun- 
sellor of  Matilda,  447;  An- 
selmi,  Giorgio,  473 ;  Albert, 
Margrave  of  Brandenburg, 
472;  Andreasi  (the  artist), 
477;  Andreasino,  509;  Ari- 
osto,  416,  417;  Aspect  and  lo- 
cation of  M.,  400-^01,  403-4; 
Appartamenti,  di  Troia, — Du- 
cali, — Stivali, — see  Reggia; 
S.  Apollonia,  466;  Archivico 
Storico  Gonzaga,  454;  Aus- 
trian rule  of  M.,  425,  427-8, 
486,  517-8,  523;  Augustus, 
Emperor,  405-6;  Bandello, 
417;  S.  Barbera,  462-3;  S. 
Barbera  of  the  Gonzaghi, — 
see  Reggia;  Bernini,  475; 
Beata  Osanna,  458;  S.  Bene- 
detto al  Po,  446-7,  544-5 ; 
Bertani,  G.  B.,  430,  462,  473, 
496;  Beauharnais,  Prince  Eu- 
gene, and  his  Consort,  426-7, 
443,  472,  533;  Bellini,  Gian, 
4*7,  5°3;  Bembo,  Card.,  414, 
416,  417,  543;  Bibbiena,  414; 
Belfiore:  (the  Martyrs  of, 
428,  442,  465,  518, — the  Monu- 
ment to,  442,  465)  ;  Bosco 
della  Fontana,  541-2;  Boz- 
zola  Principality  of, — see  Sab- 
bioneta;  Boccacino,  Boccac- 
cino  II,  462;  Borgani,  543; 
Bonsignori,  Fran.,  458,  541 ; 
Boniface,  Marquis,  447, — 
tomb  of,  447;  Borgia,  Cesare, 
418;  Boschetti,  Isabella,  420, 
421,  463,  522,  527,  528;  S. 
Bonifazio,  Count  of,  407; 
Brancaforte,      440;      Broletto, 


{Palazzo  della  Ragione),  439- 
442;  Brunelleschi,  412,  432, 
465 ;  Brusasorci,  450,  462, 
466,  509;  Buonacolsi:  (fam- 
ily, and  rule  of  the,  407-409; 
Pinamonte,  407  ;  Guido,  408  ; 
Rinaldo,  408 ;  Passerino,  408- 
409;  palaces  of  the,  408,  442- 
3,  444  (and  see  under  Reg- 
gia) ;  Camera  degli  Sposi,  see 
Reggia;  Campi,  the,  438; 
Campi,  Felice,  474;  Canedole, 
545-546;  Capilupo,  431;  Cas- 
tiglione:  (Baldassare,  402, 
414,  416,  543,— tomb  of,  543, 
— palaces  of  the,  402,  444)  ; 
Casatico,  402;  Castello,  the, 
401-3,  410,  413,  415,  427,  428, 
450,  452-3,  467.  468,  507,  508, 
510-519;  Caroto,  458,  466; 
Caracci,  Lod.,  462;  Castello, 
Piazza  (or  Prato)  del, — see 
Reggia;  Caravaggino,  533, 
537;  Cathedral:  (410,  412, 
413,  421,  445,  447-8;  nave, 
448-9,  450;  chapels, — Incoro- 
nata,  449 ;  Sacrament,  449- 
450;  choir,  apse,  dome  and 
transepts,  450;  eastern  side- 
chapel,  450)  ;  Cavallerizza, 
the, — see  Reggia;  Cavriana, 
Villa,  542;  churches  of  M., 
426,  466;  Charles  I,  King  of 
England,  423;  Charles  V, 
Emp.,  419-421,.  495,  543; 
Charles  VIII,  King  of  France, 
418;  Clementi,  Prospero,  438; 
Citadel  of  M.,  460;  Commes- 
saggio,  548 ;  Corso  Vitt. 
Emanuele,  434,  464-5 ;  Costa, 
Luigi,  466,  509 ;  Costa,  Lo- 
renzo, 417,  418,  424,  438,  458, 
466,  484,  502-3,  509,  517,  543; 
Costa,  Lor.,  jr.,  474,  477,  509; 
Council,  Church — (in  1064: 
448,— in  1459:  443,  471-472); 
Correggio,  416,  417,  423,  503; 
Corte    Vecchio, — see    Reggia; 


INDEX 


577 


Dante  (457, — Piazza  and 
statue  of,  453-4)  ;  Darsena, 
the,  461;  Donatello,  413; 
Duomo, — see  Cathedral;  Dos- 
so  Dossi,  466,  503 ;  Environs 
of,  and  Excursions  from  M., 
520-561;  S.  Egidio,  466; 
Etruscan  M.,  404-5 ;  D'Este, 
Isabella,  (401-3,  414-421,  458, 
479-485,  499.  500-507,  510-51 1, 
517,  540,  541;  art-treasures 
of,  482-3,  484-5,  5°°-505,  5«5 
beauty  and  charms  of,  505-6; 
mottoes  and  emblems  of,  481- 
2,  484,  505,  507)  ;  Ezzelino, 
da  Romano,  407;  Favorita, 
Palazzo  (or  Villa)  della,  460, 
542;  Farinata,  Paolo,  450, 
545;  Fermo  da  Caravag- 
gio,  493;  Feti,  Dora.,  450; 
Ferdinand  II,  King,  424-5 ; 
Fornovo,  Battle  of,  418,  457, 
515;  Francia,  417,  466;  S. 
Francesco,  422,  426 ;  Fred- 
erick I,  Barbarossa,  407; 
Frederick  II,  Emp.,  407 ; 
Francelli,  Luca,  413;  Frankish 
rule  of  M.,  406;  Franchetti, 
Baron,  model  estate  of,  545-6; 
Garbieri,  Lor.,  462 ;  Gardens, 
Public,  465;  Garibaldi  Piazza 
and  statue  of,  461 ;  Giovanni 
de'  Medici  (delle  Bande 
Nere),  462;  Gonzaga,  castle 
and  town  of,  441,  541,  545 ; 
German  rule  of  M.,  406; 
Goito,  Villa  of,  413,  541; 
Gonzaghi,  the:  (story  and 
family  of,  401-3,  408-425,  433, 
470,  541-2,  545,  546-7,  548; 
Armorial  Collection  of  the, 
471 ;  Bozzolo  branch  of  the, 
546-7,  548,  (and  see  Sabbio- 
neta)  ;  Cardinal  Ercole,  419, 
420,  422 ;  Cardinal  Francesco, 
515;  Cardinal  Sigismondo, 
516;  Carlo  I,  424,  484;  Carlo 
IV,  425 ;   Castle  and  town  of 


the,  441,  541,  545 ;  Church, 
family — ,  and  festival  of  the, 
466;  Dwarfs  of,  and  their 
appartments,  499-500,  514; 
Elisabetta,  408-9,  462;  Fed- 
erigo  I,  413-4,  456,  513-6; 
Federigo  II,  223,  415,  419-422, 
486,  495,  522-3,  527,  543 ;  Fer- 
rante,  422;  Forest  of  (Bosco 
della  Fontana),  541-2;  Fran- 
cesco II,  423 ;  Francesco  IV, 
410,  470,  522,  542 ;  Gianf ran- 
cesco  II,  41 1-2;  Gianf rancesco 

HI,  4H-5,  4!7-9,  457,  486,493- 

4,  516,  517,  541;  Guastalla 
branch,  422,  424,  545 ;  Gug- 
lielmo  I,  422-3,  468,  496, 
497,  500,  509,  523 ;  Guido, 
409;  Isabella, — see  d'Este; 
Leonora,  402;  Lodovico  II, 
412-3,  439,  456,  469,  472,  513- 

5,  541;  Luigi  I,  408-9,  462; 
S.  Maria  delle  Grazie,  542; 
Monferrato,  Principality  and 
dukes    of,    421,    422;    Mottoes 

'and  devices  of,  517,  526-7; 
Museum  of  Natural  History 
of,  497-8;  Pilgrimage-church 
of,  542;  Rodolfo,  514,  515; 
Sabbioneta  branch, — see  Boz- 
zolo, and  Sabbioneta;  Sculp- 
ture-Collections of,  454,  492-3, 
5°3-4,  542>  559-56o;  Spectacles 
and  tournaments  of,  495-6; 
Vespasiano,  546-7,  549,  551-4, 
555,  556,  557-9;  Villas,  coun- 
try,—  of,  413,  422,  458,  460, 
540-542,  548 ;  Vincenzo  I,  423, 
43°,  479,  480,  497,  523,  542; 
Vincenzo  II,  423-4;)  Grotta, 
the,  of  Isabella, — see  Reggia  ; 
Guastalla,  dukes  and  town  of, 
422,  424,  545 ;  Guisoni,  Fermo, 
430,  439,  45o,  486;  Hanging 
Garden, — see  Reggia  ;  Henry 
IV,  Emp.,  446,  447,  466; 
Henry  VII,  Emp.,  408;  Hilde- 
brand,    417,    448 ;    History    of 


578 


INDEX 


M. :  (401-2,  404-428;  Etrus- 
can, 404-5  ;  Celtic,  405 ;  Ro- 
man, 405-6;  Lombard,  406; 
Frankish,  406  ;  German,  406  ; 
Tebaldo,  406;  Countess  Ma- 
tilda, 406-7,  446-7;  independ- 
ent republic,  407;  S.  Boni- 
f azio,  Count  of,  407 ;  Scala 
rule,  407;  Buonacolsi  tyranny, 
407-9 ;  Gonzaga  principality, 
409-425 ;  Austrian  rule,  425, 
523;  Napoleonic  rule,  425-7, 
523 ;  Austrian  second  rule, 
427-8,  523)  ;  Hofer,  Andreas, 
460;  Independent  republic  of 
M.,  407;  Hotel  of,  434;  Lakes, 
the,  of  Mantua,  403,  434,  450- 
452>  453i  S.  Leonardo,  466; 
Leonbruno,  Lor.,  486,  501, 
517;  League  of  Cambrai,  418- 
9;  Leonardo  da  Vinci,  416; 
Library,  the  city — ,  454,  544; 
Lombardi,  Tullio,  484,  490; 
Lombard  rule,  406;  Lombard 
League,  407 ;  Louis  of  Ba- 
varia, Emp.,  408,  409 ;  Louis 
XII,  King,  418;  St.  Longinus 
(tomb  of,  and  vessel  of),  438, 
439;  Louis  XIII,  King,  424; 
Luca  da  Faenza,  493 ;  S. 
Maria  della  Carita,  466; 
Maria  Teresa,  Empress,  425, 
523;  Mantovani,  Battista, 
523;  S.  Maurizio,  461-2;  Mar- 
mirolo,  Villa  of,  458,  541-2; 
S.  Maria  delle  Grazie,  542-3; 
Mantovani,  Battista,  523 ; 
Mantovani,  Camillo,  525; 
Mantoanello,  531;  Maderno, 
Villa  of,  542;  Mantegna, 
Fran.,  438,  541;  Maglioli, 
Sperandio,  438;  Mantovani, 
Rinaldo,  430,  486,  489,  493, 
523,  525.  527,  528,  537;  Man- 
tegna's  Triumph  of  Caesar, 
421,  424,  489;  Menghi,  Pie- 
tro,  479;  Medici,  Giov.  de' 
(delle     Bande     Nere),     462; 


Mantegna's  well-perspective, 
513;  Mantegna's  auto-por- 
trait, 516;  Mantegna,  Andrea, 
401,  413,  416,  418,  421,  424, 
437i  455,  457,  458,  483,  486, 
489,  502,  5"-5i7,  539,  54i; 
Manto,  404;  Matilda,  Coun- 
tess, (406-7,  446-8,  544-5  — 
tomb  of,  447,  545)  ;  Michel- 
angiolo,  416,  417,  504;  Min- 
cio  river,  403,  404,  405 ; 
Montefeltri,  Guidobaldo,  402; 
Montanara,  542;  Mostra 
Gallery,  the, — See  Reggia  ; 
Monferrato,  duchy  of,  421, 
422 ;  Monsignori,  Fran., 
458;  Mola,  Ant.  and  Paolo 
della,  482,  511;  Museum 
of  Natural  History,  Gonzaga, 
497-8;  Museo  Patrio,  454, 
456-7;  Museo  del  Risorgi- 
mento,  458;  Museo  Civico, 
454-6,  493,  498,  542,  559-56o; 
Napoleon  the  Great,  426, 
474;  Nevers,  Charles  de, — 
see  Carlo  I,  of  the  Gonzaghi; 
Nevers,  ducal  line  of,  424-5 ; 
Novara,  Bartolino  da,  410; 
Ocnus,  404;  Octavius, — see 
Augustus;  Ognissanti,  church 
of,  466;  Orsini,  Felice,  518; 
Ospedale  Civile,  465;  Ore- 
fici,  Degli,  532 ;  Orfeo,  the, 
516;  Pavia,  Lorenzo  da,  414- 
5,  485;  Paradiso,  the, — see 
Reggia;  Paleologa,  Mar- 
gherita, — and  Gonzaga  suc- 
cession to  domains  of  the, — 
421  ;  Palazzi  (Palaces)  : 
(della  Ragione  (Broletto), 
439-442;  Belvidere, — see  Reg- 
gia; del  Te, — see  chapter 
XIV;  S.  Sebastiano, — see 
Reggia;  Municipale,  460; 
Vescovile,  445;  Cadenazzi, 
444;  Buonacolsi,  408,  442-3, 
444, — also  see  Reggia;  Cas- 
tiglione,   402,  444;    Gonzaghi, 


INDEX 


579 


— see  Reggia;  di  Giustizia, 
463-4)  ;  Paleologa,  Gabinetto 
della,  476;  Palma  Giovane, 
475;  Palazzina, — see  Reggia; 
Pagni,  Ben.,  430,  466,  523, 
527,  528 ;  Petrarch,  409 ;  Peru- 
gino,  416,  417,  424,  502,  503; 
Picture-Gallery  of  the  Reg- 
gia, 475;  piu.s  II,  Pope,  443, 
471,  472;  Piazzas:  (Dante, 
453-4;  Virgiliana,  459;  del 
Broletto,  432,  440-441 ;  Sor- 
dello,  431,  432,  442-5;  S.  An- 
drea (or  Mantegna),  432,  434- 
5,  439;  delle  Erbe,  432,  439- 
440)  ;  Pisanello,  401 ;  Pietole, 
405,  443-4;  Ponte  dei  Molini, 
403,  407,  432,  460;  Ponte  S. 
Giorgio,  403,  410,  450-2 ;  Pop- 
ulation of  M.,  434;  Plague  of 
1528,  420;  Porta  Pusterla, 
432;  Politian,  516;  Porta 
Pradella,  432;  Praxiteles,  504; 
Primaticcio,  401,  420,  430, 
486,  488,  517,  523,  531,  532, 
534,  538;  Quadrilateral,  the 
Austrian,  404,  427,  428 ;  Ram- 
parts, 403,  465-6,  524;  Re- 
canati,  II,  493 ;  Republic  of 
M.,  407;  Reggia,  the:  (ar- 
mory, 470-1 ;  S.  Barbara,  468, 
507-510;  Belvidere  (Palaz- 
zo),— or  del  Paradlso, — 413, 
416,  468,  469,  479-485,  499; 
Buonacolsi      palaces,      442-3, 

467,  468,  470-5,  506-7  ;Camera 
degli  Sposi,  401,  413,  453,  456, 
511-517;  Castello  Vecchio, 
401-3,  410,  413,  415,  427,  428, 
450,  452-3,  467,  468,  507,  508, 
510-519;  Cavallerizza,  the, 
421,  427,  467,  468,  491-6; 
Cortile  d'Onore,  468,  476,  500; 
Corte  Vecchio  (Apparta- 
menti   Ducali),  416,  427,  467, 

468,  475-9;  Corridor,  the  cov- 
ered, 468,  478,  485,  499;  S. 
Croce,    Cortile   of,    468,    507; 


Domestic  Establishment,  469; 
Gabinetti  di  Primaticcio,  488 ; 
Gabinetti  di  Giulio  Romano, 
489;  Gabinetto  della  Paleol- 
oga, 476;  Giardino  del  Pa- 
diglione,  469,  481,  499; 
Grotta,  the,  of  Isabella,  415, 
416,  424,  427,  483,  484,  500- 
506;  Hanging  Garden,  the 
old,  488 — the  newer,  443-4, 
467-8,  473 ;  history  of,  401-3, 
408,  410,  412,  413,  415,  423-7, 
468-9,  470,  472,  474,  486,  495- 
6,  497-8,  499,  500,  501,  506, 
509 ;  Loggia  dei  Frutti,  496 ; 
location  and  external  aspect 
of,  400-401,  432,  442-4;  Man- 
tegna's  "Triumph  of  Caesar," 
421,  424,  489;  Mostra  Gal- 
lery, the,  423,  427,  497-8 ; 
Museum  of  Natural  History, 
497-8;  Nani,  Appartamenti 
dei,  499-500;  Palazzina,  the, 
421,  427,  453,  511;  Palazzo 
S.  Sebastiano,  421,  452,  453, 
467,  468,  485-491,  493-4;  Para- 
diso  (apartment,  416,  425, 
427,  476,  479-485,— building 
or  palace  of  the,  see  Belvi- 
dere Palazzo)  ;  Piazza  della 
Lega  Lombarda,  469,  508 ; 
Piazza  (or  Prato)  del  Cas- 
tello, 468,  473,  507;  Piazza 
Paradiso,  468,  508 ;  Piazza  del 
Pallone,  469,  508;  Pinacoteca, 
475;  Repair  and  redecoration  : 
(by  the  Austrian  rulers,  425, 
470,  472,  477,  491 ;  by  the 
French  rulers,  425-6,  470,  471, 
472;  Romano's  Cycle  of  the 
Trojan  War,  421,  490-491; 
Sala  dei  Marmi,  491-3 ;  Sale 
and  disposal  of  the  treasures 
of,  423-5,  491 ;  Sack  of,  by 
the  Spaniards,  425,  491 ; 
Sculptures  of,  454,  492-3,  503- 
4;  Stables  and  kennels,  the, 
469 ;    State-department  offices, 


58o 


INDEX 


486;  Staircase  of  Giulio  Ro- 
mano, 468,  485;  Specchi,  Sala 
degli,  476-478;  Spectacles  and 
Tournaments,  495-6;  Stivali, 
Appartamenti,  468,  496-7,  498- 
9;  Studiolo,  the,  415,  453,  511; 
Theatre,  the  ducal,  444;  To- 
pography of  the  R.,  467-470; 
Throne-Room,  486;  Titian's 
Series  of  the  Twelve  Caesars, 
421,  423-4,  489;  Troia,  Ap- 
partamenti  di,  427,  452,   486- 

491.) Rio,    the,    461,    466; 

Romano,  Cristoforo,  483 ;  Ro- 
mano,   Giulio:    (life    of,    336, 

420,  421,  429-430,  463  ;  school 
of,  336,  429,  430,  449,  486, 
493,  528-9,  539,  544;  Gabinetti 
di,  489;  Loggia  of,  494;  his 
Cycle    of    the    Trojan    War, 

421,  452;  tomb  of,  463;  house 
of,  463,  works  of,  at  Mantua 
and  in  its  environs,  401,  428- 
430,  432,  438»  439.  445,  448- 
450,  452,  463-4.  476,  486,  489. 
490-493,  498,  502,  507,  511,  517, 
520-523,  526-540,  543,  544" 
545.)  Roman  Mantua,  405-6; 
Rovere,  Duke  Fran.  Maria 
della,  402;  Rubens,  423,  457; 
Ruboni,  477;  San  Secondo, 
Jacopo  da,  505 ;  Santi,  Giov., 
417;  Sarto,  Andrea  del,  423; 
Sabbioneta, — see  under  S. 
Saviolo,  Villa,  542;  Sanso- 
vino,  504;  Scultori,  493,  523, 
531,  534,  544!  Sculptures  of 
the  Gonzaghi, — See  Gonzaghi ; 
Scala,  (rule  of,  407;  Alberto 
della,  407;  Mastino  della, 
407);  Serafino,  505;  S.  Se- 
bastiano,  412,  464,  476;  Sebas- 
tiano  del  Vino,  477;  Sforza, 
Fran.,  419-420,  472;  Sforza, 
Max.,  419;  Sigismund,  Emp., 
411,  412,  534;  Siege,  and 
sack,    of   M.,    by   the    French, 

422,  426, — by    the    Spaniards, 


424-5,  491,  523;  Sigismund, 
Duke  of  Austria,  472;  So- 
ranzo,  Piero,  493-4;  Sordello, 
431;  Speri,  Tito,  428,  518; 
Spagnuoli,  431,  457;  Strozzi, 
Pietro,  monument  of,  439 ; 
Studiolo,  the,  of  Isabella, — 
see  Reggia;  Tasso,  Bern.,  417, 
431-2;  Teatro  Sociale,  464; 
Theatre  of  the  Gonzaghi — see 
Reggia;  Terracotta,  and 
brick,  beauties  of  M.,  440, 
445,  457,  459;  Teatro  Virgil, 
459;  Te,  Palazzo  del, — see 
under  T. ;  Tebaldo,  Count, 
406,  446,  544;  Titian  (Tizi- 
ano),  416,  421,  423-4,  503, 
544;  Titian's  Series  of  the 
Twelve  Caesars,  421,  423-4, 
489;  Tintoretto,  423;  To- 
pography of  M.,  403-4,  432; 
Torbido,  Fran.,  439 ;  Tower, 
city  clock — (or  Torre  dell' 
Orologio),  439-440;  Torre 
della  Gabbia,  444;  Trojan 
War,  Cycle  of  the,  421,  490- 
491 ;  Trisseno,  Giangiorgio, 
506;  Triumvirate,  the  Second, 
405-6;  Udine,  Giov.  da,  538, 
539;  Villas:  (Porto,  541; 
Marmirolo,  541 ;  Sacchet- 
ta,  541;  Goito,  413,  541; 
Rovere,  542,  545 ;  Favorita, 
460,  542)  ;  Villeggiatura, 
villas,  and  country-life  of 
the  Gonzaghi,  413,  422,  458, 
460,  540-542,  548;  Virgil: 
(404,  405-6,  441-2,  456,  457, 
543-4;  festa  of,  543-4;  house 
of,  544;  statue  of,  441-2); 
Vittorino  da  Feltre,  412,  544; 
Visconti,  Gian  Galeazzo,  410, 
470;  Viani,  Antonio,  430,  437, 
476,  542;  Via  Sogliari,  434-5; 
Via  Cavour,  459;  Walls, — see 
Ramparts;  Zevio,  Stefano  da, 
466. 


INDEX 


58i 


Note:  the  Environs  of  Man- 
tua are  all  indexed  under  Man- 
tua. 

Marconi,   Rocco:   64. 

Martinengo,  town,  and  family 
of:  70,  71. 

Maria  Teresa  (or  Theresa), 
Empress:    135,    237,   425,    523. 

Marabotti,   the:  229. 

Marmirolo,    Villa  of:  458. 

Massacra   di  Pavia:  270. 

Masolino,  da  Panicale:  112, 
153,   154,   155.   156-170. 

Masaccio:    156,   158. 

Matilda  of  Tuscany,  Countess: 
406-7,  446-8,  544-545  ; — and 
her  tomb,  447,  545. 

Medici,  Giovanni  dei,  (delle 
Bande  Nere)  :  462. 

Menghi,   Pietro:  479. 

Melegnano:  306. 

Melone,  Altobello:  334-5,  361, 
362,  392,  393. 

Michelangiolo:  416,  417,  504. 

Mincio  river,  the:  403,  404,  405. 

Milan: 

Destruction  of,  177,  282-4; 
Delia  Torre,  the,  5;  electric 
power  of,  184;  Guelfic  lead- 
ership of,  228 ;  Henry  VII, 
Emp.,  6;  Napoleon  I,  corona- 
tion at  M.,  93-94;  rebuilding 
of  M.,  4,  178;  School  of  art 
of,  11,  118,  120,  303;  Sforza 
rule  of,  10-12;  Visconti  rule 
of,  5-11. 

Milanese,  the: 

Aspect  of,  76-78,  80-81,  113- 
5,  132-3;  agriculture  of,  73, 
113-114,  116;  canals  and 
waterways  of,  110-112,  171, 
195;  country-houses  and  vil- 
las of, — see  Brianza,  Monte; 
electric  plants,  power,  and 
railways  of,  171,  184;  extent 
and  topography  of,  110-112; 
industries    of,     180-181,     184; 


people  of,  81,  177,  184;  silk- 
trade  of,  180-181 ;  tramways 
of,   102,   171 ;   wheat  crops  of, 

73- 

Miradori:   372. 

Mola,    Ant.    and    Paolo    della: 
482,  511. 

Monferrato,      Marquisate      and 
Duchy  of:  421,  422. 

Monsignori,   Fran.:  458. 

Montanara:  542. 

Monfredini:  368. 

Montefeltri,  Guidobaldo:  402. 

Montagna,  Bart.:  215. 

Monastic     orders, — wealth    and 
suppression    of:    192-3. 

Monte  dei   Fiori: 

Aspect  and  location  of,  133, 
141,  143;  Ascent  of,  by  road, 
143,  144-5  i  ascent  of,  by  rail, 
143-4;  Aguggiari,  Fra,  144 
146;  Bussola,  Dionigi,  145; 
chapels  of,  roadside, — 144- 
145 ;  Madonna  del  Monte, 
church  and  shrine  of,  133, 
145-7;  Sacromonte,  village  of, 
145 ;  Sacromonte,  as  a  moun- 
tain,— a  shoulder  of  the  Mon- 
te dei  Fiori, — 143-7  ;  Silva, 
Fran.,  145;  tramway  to,  143; 
views  from,   144,  145,  147. 

Monza  : 

Antharis,  and  Agilulf, 
Kings,  82;  Appiani,  Andrea, 
105-6 ;  aspect  and  situation  of 
M.,  81,  84;  Beauharnais, 
Prince  Eugene,  and  his  con- 
sort, 105 ;  Berengarius,  pali- 
otto  of,  95-6;  Cathedral:  (as- 
pect and  location  of,  85-88; 
campanile,  87;  cemetery,  old, 
100;  choir,  95-96;  fagade,  86- 
87,  88;  history  of,  81,  82-83; 
interior,  88,  89-91 ;  Iron 
Crown,  the,  91-95,  97;  Otho 
III,  relief  of  coronation  of, 
95;  paliotto  of  Berengarius, 
95-96;    Piazza   of,    (del    Duo- 


582 


INDEX 


mo),  85;  portal,  main,  86,  88; 
Theodolinda,  88-89,  9°"9I> — 
emblem  of,  95,  97, — treasures 
of,  see  cathedral-treasury; 
treasury,  cathedral, — 88-89, 
96-99;  Troso,  frescoes  of,  90; 
Visconti,  Ettore,  body  of, 
100)  ;  Campione,  Matteo  da, 
83,  86,  88,  95 ;  Castracani, 
Castruccio,  83 ;  Cavalazzi, 
the,  83 ;  Chateau,  Royal, — or 
Castello  Reale:  (aspect  and 
location  of,  102-104;  history 
of,  104-106;  park  of,  104,  106- 
109;  rulers  of,  104-6;  in- 
terior and  frescoes  of,  105- 
106);  Colleoni,  Bart.,  83-84; 
Duomo,  and  Piazza  del, — see 
Cathedral;  d'Este,  Beatrice, 
Archduchess  of  Austria,  104- 
5;  Ferdinand,  Archduke,  104- 
5;  Forni,  Visconti  palace — 
fortress  of,  83,  84;  Guercino, 
90;  History  of  M.,  81-84;  ho- 
tel of,  85 ;  Humbert,  King, — 
see  Umberto;  Iron  Crown  of 
Lombardy,  81,  91-95,  97,  228; 
Louis  of  Bavaria,  Emp.,  83 ; 
Luini,  Bern.,  95;  S.  Maria  in 
Istrada,  101-102;  Milanese 
rule  of  M.,  83-84;  Municipio, 
85;  Napoleon  the  Great,  105; 
Otho  III,  coronation  of,  at 
M.,  95 ;  Palazzo  Municipale 
(Arengario),  85;  Park,  royal, 
106-109;  Population  of  M., 
81;  Procaccini,  C,  95;  Piaz- 
za Roma,  85;  Theodolinda, 
Queen,  82,  84,  88-89,  9°-9I> 
95,  97, — emblem  of,  95,  97, — 
treasure  of,  82,  88-89,  96-99; 
Theodoric  the  Great,  81-82; 
Toricelli,  the,  83;  tramcars 
of  M.,  102;  treasure,  royal, 
of  the  Lombards, — see  cathe- 
dral-treasury; Troso  da 
Monza,  84,  90;  Umberto  I, 
King,    visits    and    death    of, 


106, — monument  of,  106 ;  Vis- 
conti, the:  (sway  of,  at  M., 
83-84;  Azzo,  83;  Ettore,  body 
of,  100;  Filippo  Maria,  83- 
84;  Galeazzo,  83;  Marco, 
83). 

Moroni,  G.  B.:  2,  54,  66. 

Moretto:  33,  59-60,  67,  68. 

Morone,    Fran. :   34,   66,   70. 

Moretti,  Crist.:  333,  362,  363. 

Mortara:  287. 

Mulberry-tree  cultivation:  113, 
180-181,  548. 

N 

Nani,  Sebastiano  da:  347. 
Napoleon  the   Great:  3,   56,  58- 

59.  93-94,  105,  195,  237-8,  286, 

298,  426,  474. 
Napoleon  III:  518. 
Natali:  376. 
Naviglio   Grande:  in. 
Nepos,  Cornelius:  222. 
Nevers,   Charles  de' :  424-5. 
Nevers,  ducal  line  of:  424-5. 
Nova,    Pietro    and    Paxino    da: 

13,   36,  46,   62. 
Novara:  5. 

Novara,  Bartolinoda:  410. 
Novi,  Nardino:  211,  212. 

O 

Ocnus:  404. 

Odoacer:  223-224. 

Octavius, — see   Augustus. 

Oglio  river:  433. 

Olona  river:  in,   133. 

Olona  valley:  m-112,  133,  150, 

— railways  of,   112. 
Olona  gorge:  150 
Ombriano:  311. 
Orefici,    Degli:   532. 
Orestes:  223. 
Orfeo,  the:  516. 
Orsini,   Felici:   518. 
Orsolini,   Tommaso:  209,  245. 
Orto,  Vincenzo  dell':  118. 


INDEX 


583 


Otto  I   (or  Otho  I)  :  279. 
Otto  III    (or  Otho  III)  :  95. 
Ottone,  Lorenzo:  475. 


Pagni,  Benedetto:  430,  466,  523, 

527,  528. 
Pallavicino,  Marchese:  237. 
Paleologa,      Margherita,      and 

Gonzaga     dukedom     of     the: 

421. 
Palma  Vecchio:  2,  14,  34,  65,  68. 
Palma     Giovane:    33,    65,    277, 

475- 
Parks  in  Lombardy,  absence  of: 

113-114. 

Papia, — the  Lombard  name   for 
Pavia, — which  see. 

Parmesan  cheese:  290. 

Pavia,    Battle    of:    218,    234-5, 
240. 

Pavia,  Canal  of:  in,  195,  239. 

Pavia,  Certosa  of, — see  Certosa 
di  Pavia. 

Pavia,     Lorenzo     da:     414-415, 
485. 

Pavia,  city  of: 

Adalbert,  Emp.,  274;  Ale- 
laide,  Queen,  279;  Agostino 
da  Vaprio,  276;  Alaric,  222- 
3;  Alboin,  225-6;  Allea  di  Pi- 
azza Castello,  248,  253,  261 ; 
Amadeo,  G.  G.,  244,  271,  278- 
9;  Aragon,  Isabella  of,  221, 
230,  231,  232;  Arduino  of  Iv- 
rea,  271 ;  Aribert,  King,  278, 
279;  Arrigo  II,  of  Germany, 
271;  Aspect  of,  220-221,  264; 
Attila,  223 ;  S.  Augustine, 
256, — Area  of,  222,  250,  253, 
254-6,  257;  Augustus,  Emper- 
or, 222;  Austrian  rule,  237; 
Balduccio,  Giov.,  254;  Bar- 
tolommeo,  Fra,  277;  Battle  of 
P.,  218,  234-5,  240;  Beccaria, 
the,  229,  278;  Bellini,  Gian, 
277 ;    Bembo,    Bonif azio,    250, 


252;  Berengarius,  King,  271; 
Bernardino  da  Feltre,  260; 
Berengarius  II,  King,  279 ; 
Boethius,  224-5,  257-8,  261; 
Borromeo,  Cardinal,  247;  Bo- 
tanical Gardens,  246,  263 ; 
Bridge,  the  old,  239,  274-5; 
Broletto,  the,  242;  Bramante, 
231,  243-4,  262;  Brossano, 
Fran,  da,  260;  burning  of  P., 
227;  Buonfigli,  276;  Bussola- 
ri,  Jacopo  de',  229;  Cairoli: 
(palace  of  the,  253;  family 
and  history  of  the,  253;  mon- 
ument to  the,  265-266)  ;  Cam- 
pione,  Matteo  da,  254, — Bo- 
nino  da,  250,  254;  Cassi,  En- 
rico, 265;  Cathedral,  231, 
240,  242-5;  Canal  of  P.,  in, 
195,  239;  Castello,  of  the  Vis- 
conti,  221,  229,  230,  231-4, 
248-252;  Charles  V,  Emp., 
233-6;  Charles  VIII,  of 
France,  232;  Charlemagne, 
226,  253,  271 ;  Clarence,  Duke 
of,  250;  Collegio  Borromeo, 
246-7;  Columbus,  Crist.,  245; 
Corso  Cavour,  240;  Corso 
Vitt.  Emanuele,  239-240,  245, 
247.  253;  Correggio,  277; 
Collegio  Ghisleri,  262;  Con- 
vents of  P.,  275-6;  Conradin, 
228  ;  Constantius,  Emp.,  222  ; 
Crespi,  D.  and  G.  B.,  245; 
Desiderius,  226;  Destruction 
of  M.,  by  Huns,  226-7;  Dolce- 
bono,  243-4;  Duomo,  Piazza 
del,  243 ;  Epiphanius,  223, 
224;  d'Este,  Beatrice,  221, 
230-232;  d'Edesia,  Andrino, 
269,  272,  280;  S.  Eusebio, 
276;  Eremetani,  monastery 
and  church  of  the,  257,  258; 
Fallabrini,  the,  229;  Farinata, 
Paolo,  277;  Foppa,  Vincenzo, 
250,  252;  Francis  I,  King, 
233-5;  S.  Francesco,  262; 
French    rule    of    P.,    233-5; 


584 


INDEX 


French  sack  of  P.,  235,  251; 
Frederick  I,  Barbarossa,  220, 
228,  242,  271-2;  Garibaldi, 
253, — monument  to,  249,  252- 
3  ;  Ghibelline  leadership  of  P., 
227-8;  Giovenone,  Girolamo, 
277;  Gonzaga,  Federigo,  233; 
Gonzales,  Fran.,  Governor, 
261;  Henry  II,  Emp.,  227; 
Henry  VII,  Emp.,  228-9;  His- 
tory of  P.:  (220,  222-239;  R°~ 
man  P.,  222-3  !  Gothic,  224-5  5 
Byzantine,  225;  Lombard, 
225-6;  Frankish,  226;  inde- 
pendent republic,  227-8;  Ghi- 
belline leader,  227-8;  Scala 
rule,  228;  Visconti  rule,  229- 
230;  Sforza  rule,  230-235; 
French  rule,  233-5;  Spanish, 
235-7  J  Austrian,  237);  Hono- 
rius,  Emp.,  222-3 !  Hotel  of 
P.,  241;  Imperialism  of  P., 
227-8;  237-8;  Independence  of 
P.,  227-8;  Inquisition  at  P., 
236,  237;  Jesuitry,  236,  237; 
Joseph  II,  Emp.,  237;  Justin- 
ian, Emp.,  225 ;  S.  Lanfran- 
co:  (life  of,  278;  church  and 
monastery  of,  278 ;  area  of, 
278-9)  ;  Lautrec,  Gen.,  233, 
235>  251;  Liberale,  276;  Li- 
brary, Visconti,  251;  Leyva, 
Gen.,  rule  of,  235-6;  Livia, 
Empress,  222;  Location  of  P., 
222,  225 ;  Longasco,  the, — and 
Ricciardino, — 229  ;  Lothaire, 
Emp.,  227-8;  Louis  XII,  of 
France,  232-3 ;  Lothaire, 
King,  279;  Lombard:  (cap- 
ital, 225-6;  sculpture,  266-9, 
271;  mosaic,  271;  racial  char- 
acteristics, 266,  268-9 1  coro- 
nations at  P.,  271-2;  royal 
palace,  273-4;  influence,  and 
features,  221-2;  buildings, 
221,  264;  churches,  221-222, 
266-273,  278)  ;  Luini,  Bern., 
277;     Luitprand,     King,     253, 


257i  258;  S.  Maria  del  Car- 
mine, 258-260;  Maria  Teresa, 
Empress,  237;  Marabotti,  the, 
229;  S.  Maria  di  Canepanova, 
262-3 ;  Massacra  di  Pavia, 
270;  Magnentius,  Emp.,  222; 
Mercato  Coperto,  264-5;  S- 
Michele  Maggiore,  222,  228, 
264,  266-272;  Municipio,  Pi- 
azza and  Palazzo  of,  240, 
263 ;  Museo  Civico,  260,  276- 
7;  Napoleon  the  Great,  237- 
8;  Nepos,  Cornelius,  222; 
Odoacer,  223-4;  Orestes,  223; 
Otto  I,  Emp.,  279;  Orsolino, 
245;  Papia, — the  Lombard 
Pavia, — 225-6;  Palma  Gio- 
vane,  277;  Palazzo,  Malaspi- 
na,  260, — Vescovile,  245, — 
Municipale,  see  Municipio; 
Petrarch,  250,  251,  252,  260- 
261;  Pellegrini,  Pellegrino, 
247;  Pius  V,  Pope,  statue  of, 
262;  Piazzas:  (del  Popolo, 
264-5;  Grande,  240,  241-2); 
S.  Pietro  in  Ciel  d'Oro,  222, 
253-8;  Population  of  P.,  221; 
Porta  Cavour,  240;  Porta 
Garibaldi,  240;  Porta  Milano, 
239;  SS.  Primo  e  Feliciano, 
276;  Railway  station,  240; 
Ramparts,  241,  261 ;  Republic 
of  P.,  227-8 ;  Risorgimento, 
monument  of  the,  248 ;  Roc- 
chi,  Crist.,  244;  Romulus  Au- 
gustulus,  223 ;  Scala,  Mastino 
della,  and  rule  of  the,  228; 
Salimbene,  Martino,  tomb  of, 
271 ;  S.  Salvatore,  278,  279- 
280;  Seven  Spanish  Devils, 
the,  236;  Sforza:  (sway  of 
the,  230-235;  Francesco,  230; 
Gian  Galeazzo,  230,  231,  232; 
Lodovico  (II  Moro),  230- 
233;  Maximilian,  233;  Fran- 
cesco II,  233,  234,  235); 
Spanish  sway  in  P.,  and  deso- 
lation of,  235-7;   Spanish  no- 


INDEX 


585 


bility,  236-7,  253;  S.  Stefano, 
remains  of,  243  ;  Spallanzani, 
221 ;  Stilicho,  222-3  >  Suf- 
folk and  Lorraine,  Dukes  of, 
235,  258;  S.  Teodoro,  275; 
Terracotta  work,  277,  278 ; 
Theodoric,  224-5, — Palace,  of, 
273-4;  Ticino  river,  239,  274- 
5  ;  Ticinum, — the  Roman  Pa- 
via,  220,  222-4;  Tiberius, 
Emp.,  222 ;  Topography  of  P., 
239-240;  Towers,  mediaeval, 
221,  263-4;  Torre  Maggiore, 
243 ;  University  of  P.,  221, 
231,  238-9,  245-7;  Venezia, 
Bern,  da,  250;  Vitone,  Ven- 
tura, 244;  Vinci,  Leonardo 
da,  245;  Visconti:  (rule  of 
the,  229-230;  castle  of  the, — 
see  Castello;  Galeazzo,  229, 
250-251;  Gian  Galeazzo,  229, 
250-251,  257;  Filippo  Maria, 
229-230;  Matteo)  ;  Vivarini, 
Luigi,  276;  Volta,  221,  246; 
Walls  of  P., — see  Ramparts; 
Zucchio,   Federico,  247. 

Paulus,   Jacopo:  62. 

Pedoni,  Giov.  Gaspare:  372-3, 
386. 

Pellagra,   the:   74. 

Pellegrini:  (Galeazzo,  211; 
Pellegrino,  247). 

Pensaben,  Fra  Marco:  69. 

People  of  Lombardy,  the:  81, 
177,  184. 

Perugino:  203-4,  334.  381,  416, 
41 1,  424.  502,  503. 

Petrarch:  250,  251,  252,  260- 
261,  409. 

V\2lxx2l:  (school  of  the,  295, 
296,  298,  301 ;  Albertino, 
294.  295>  297,  301,  302,  304, 
322;  Martino,  295,  297,  301- 
2,  304,  322;  Calisto,  294-5, 
301,  302,  304,  319;  Fulvio, 
304). 

Pietole:  405,  543-4. 

Pisano,  Vittore  (Pisanello)  : 
67,  401. 


Pius   II,    Pope:  443,   471-2. 

Plague  of  1528:  420. 

Platina,   Giov.   Maria:  368. 

Plain  of  Lombardy:  (aspects 
of,  various,  the,  73,  74,  76- 
78,  113-5,  132-3,  149-150,  289- 
290,  305,  354-5,  548;  vegeta- 
tion and  crops  of,  73-74,  113- 
4,  116,  143,  149,  289-290,  548; 
dairy  products  of,  143,  290, 
305;   viniculture  of,    116). 

Po  river:  no,  in,  237,  341, 
378. 

Podermo,  electric  power  plant 
of:  184. 

Politian:  516. 

Polli,   Bart   de':  210. 

Pompeius  Strabo:  281. 

Ponte   della   Selva:   69. 

Pontida, — and  the  Oath  of 
{Giuramento  di)  :  4,  177, 
178,  326. 

Pontirolo    (Pons.   Aureoli)  :  3. 

Porata,    Giacomo:   347,    348. 

Pordenone  (Giov.  Ant.  de' 
Sacchis)  :  335,  360,  363,  365. 

Porta,   Villa:   541. 

Porta:  (Giacomo  della,  211; 
Giov.   Batt.   della,   556). 

Pozzi,  Ambrogio  da:  368. 

Poscanthe,  Giov.  G.  Gavasio 
da:  22,  32,  34. 

Praxiteles:  504. 

Previtali,  Andrea:  2,  14,  15, 
29-30.    31,    32,    34,    65,    66,    68. 

Primaticcio:  401,  420,  430,  486, 
488,  523,  531,  532,  534,  538. 

Procaccini,  C. :  95,  129,  218, 
219,  293. 


Quadrilateral,      the      Austrian: 
404,  427,  428. 


Raphael    (Raffaello)  :  68. 


586 


INDEX 


Recanati,  II:  493. 

Reggia,  the, — see  under  Man- 
tua. 

Rembrandt:  67. 

Reni,   Guido:  68. 

Resegnone,  Mte. :  74. 

Ricca:  (Battista,  377;  Bernar- 
dino, 366). 

Riccio,  A.:  218. 

Roccoli:   115,   116. 

Rocchi,  Crist.:  244. 

Romanino:  21,   70,  71,  335,  363. 

Romano,  town  of:  70,  71,  72. 

Romano:  (Giov.  Crist.,  211, 
385,  483;  Galli  da,  218; 
Giulio, — see   under   Mantua). 

Romulus  Augustulus:  223. 

Roncaglia,  Diet  of:  282. 

Rosa,  Mte.,  and  range  of:  77- 
78,  142. 

Rovere,  town  and  villa  of,  542, 

545- 

Rovere,  Duke  Fran  Maria  del- 
la:  402. 

Rubens:  423,  457. 

Ruboni,  477. 


Sacchis,   Agostino   de':   368. 

Sabbioneta : 

Bozzolo,  Principality  of, 
546,  548;  Cavalli,  Alberto, 
554;  Campi,  (school  of  the, 
552-4,  557-9;  Bernardino, 
552"4>  557-9 ;  Antonio,  552-4, 
557-9)  !  church,  parochial, 
550-551,  560;  Commessagio 
(and  Gonzaga  villa),  548; 
Gallery  of  Sculptures  (La 
Galleria),  550,  559-560; 
Gates,  town, — 549,  556-7; 
Gonzaghi,  princes  of  the, 
546-7,  548;  Gonzaghi,  Ves- 
pasiano  dei,  546-7,  549,  551- 
4»  555,  556,  557-9,— and  his 
tomb,    555-6;    guide   of,   prin- 


cipal, 551;  history  of,  546-7; 
Hospital,  Ducal,  555-6;  In- 
coronata,  church  of  the,  555- 
6;  Inn  of,  principal,  555; 
Leoni,  Leone,  556;  location 
of,  546;  Monument  of  Duke 
Vespasiano,  555-6;  Ospedale 
Civico,  555,  556;  Palazzi 
(palaces), —  (Ducale,  or  Mu- 
nicipal, 551-4;  del  Giardino, 
55o,  557-9;  delP  Olio,  554)  ; 
Piazza  Garibaldi,  550-551; 
Piazza  d'Armi,  549-550;  Por- 
ta Venti  Settembre,  549 ;  Por- 
ta, Giov.  Batt.  della,  556; 
ramparts  of,  548-9,  557;  Sca- 
mozzi,  547,  550,  557;  sculp- 
tures, Vespasiano's  collection 
of,  454,  55o,  559-56o;  Thea- 
tre of  Scamozzi,  the  Ducal, 
550,  557;  topography  of  S., 
549;  tramway  to,  547-9;  Via 
Giulia,  549,  550. 

Sacromonte, — see  Monte  dei  Fi- 
ori. 

Sacchetta,  Villa:  541. 

Saint, — see    under    the    personal 
name. 

Santi,  Giov.:  417. 

Santa  Croce:    (Girolamo  da,  2; 
Francesco  da,  16,  34,  66,  68). 

San  Secondo,  Jacopo  da:  505. 

Sansovino:   504. 

San   Guiniforte:   198. 

Sarto,  Andrea  del:  423. 

Saronno: 

Abbiate,  119;  Amaretti, 
117;  artistic  importance  of, 
112,  118;  aspect  and  location 
of,  112,  117,  131-2;  electric 
power  of,  171;  Ferrari,  Gau- 
denzio,  112,  119-120,  123,  124- 
5;  Lanini,  Bern.,  119,  123; 
Luini,  Bern.,  112,  118-9,  123, 
126-131;  Magno  Cesare  del, 
119,  123;  S.  Maria  dei  Mira- 
coli  (il  Santuario)  :  (ap- 
proach   to,    and    location    of, 


INDEX 


587 


117,  120,  i2i ;  exterior,  120- 
122;  history  of,  118;  decora- 
tion   of,    118-120;    the    nave, 

122,  129-130;  presbytery, 
122-3,  125-126;  dome,  123-5; 
choir,  and  vestibule  to,  126- 
9 ;  retrochoir,  129 ;  sacristy, 
129;  cloister,  130;  Luini,  la- 
bors of,  118-119, — frescoes  of, 

123,  126-131;  Ferrari,  labors 
of,  1 19-120, — frescoes  of,  123, 
124-5;  Lanini,  119,  123;  Ab- 
biate,  119;  Magno,  Cesare 
del,  119,  123;  Procaccini,  C, 
129)  ;  Orto,  Vincenzo  dell', 
n8;  SS.  Pietro  e  Paulo, — pi- 
azza of,  and  church  of, — 132; 
Population  of  S.,  117;  Procac- 
cini, C,  129;  railways  to  S., 
112,  116-7,  132;  Santuario 
della  Beata  Virgine, — see  S. 
Maria  dei  Miracoli;  topogra- 
phy of  S.,  117;  tramway  from 
Milan,  132. 

Saviolo,  town  and  villa  of:  542. 

Scalar      (Alberto     della,     407; 

Mastino  della,  228,  327,  407). 

Scamozzi:   37,   42,   54,   547,   550, 

557- 

Scultori:  493,  523,  531,  534,  544. 

Secchi,  Bramante:  385. 

Serafino:  505. 

Seriana,  Val :  2,  69. 

Sesto,  Stefano  da:  210-21 1. 

Sforza:  (story  of  the,  10-12, 
230-235;  Francesco  I,  10,  11, 
230,  310,  321,  330,  398-9,  472; 
Galeazzo,  n,  230,  321-2; 
Gian  Galeazzo,  230,  231,  232; 
Lodovico, — II  Moro, — n,  12, 
190-192,  204-207,  230-233,  287, 
288,  330-331, — and  his  monu- 
ment, 204-7;  Maximilian,  12, 
233>  285,  306,  419;  Francesco 
H,  12,  233,  234,  235,  419-420; 
Bianca,  dei   Visconti,  330-331, 

398;9)- . 
Shooting  in  Lombardy:  115-116. 


Sigismund,  Emp.,   329,   356,  411, 

.412.  534- 
Sigismund,    Duke,    of    Austria: 

472. 
Signorelli:  67.    • 
Silk    trade    of    Lombardy:    180- 

181. 
Silva,  Fran.:  145. 
Siry,  Sixtus:  50. 
Smuggling  into  Lombardy:  134- 

135- 

Sodoma:  67. 

Soiaro,  the, — see  Gatti. 

Solari,  Crist.:  49,   192,  206-207, 

210. 
Solario,  Andrea:  215. 
Soncino,    town    and    battle    of: 

231-2. 
Soranzo,  Piero:  493-4. 
Sordello:  431. 
Spagnuoli:  431. 
Spallanzani:  221. 
Spanish  rule,  and  desolation,  of 

Lombardy:    235,     236-7,    286, 

33i»  332. 
Spanish  Seven  Devils,  the:  236, 

286. 
Spanish  Succession,  War  of  the, 

237. 
Speri,  Tito:  428,  518. 
Spinone,  Lake  of:  69. 
Stanga,    Marchese    Ildefonso, — 

and  his  model  farm:  387-389. 
Stauris,  Rinaldo  de':  217,  218. 
Stilicho:  222-223. 
Strabo,  Pompeius:  281. 
Stradivari,  Antonio:  340. 


Talpino:  2,  17. 

Tarsia,  Pietro  della:  368. 

Tarsia:   {chefs  d'ceuvres  of,   17, 

28,  47-48,  52-53,  210;  greatest 

artists  of,   17,  210). 
Tasso:   (Bernardo,  18,  417,  431- 

2;  Torquato,   39,  432). 


588 


INDEX 


Te,    Palazzo    del, — near    Man- 
tua— : 

Artistic  importance  of,  520- 
522;  Atrium,  the  Grand  {At- 
rio  di  Davide),  532-533; 
Beauharnais,  Prince  Eugene, 
533;  Boschetti,  Isabella,  522, 
527,  528;  Camerini,  the  (rear 
chambers),  538-9;  Caravag- 
gino,  533,  537;  Court,  the 
(Cortile),  525;  d'Este,  Isa- 
bella, 540;  exterior  of,  524-5, 
533;  Garden,  the,  525,  533; 
Garden-Colonnade,  the,  533; 
Giovanni  da  Udine,  538,  539; 
Gonzaghi,  the:  (Francesco 
IV,  522;  Federigo  II,  522-3, 
527;  Guglielmo  I,  523;  Vin- 
cenzo  I,  523)  ;  Grotta,  the  Ca- 
sino della,  533,  539-540;  his- 
tory of,  420,  422,  425,  522-4; 
location  of,  432,  522,  524; 
Mantovani:  (Battista,  523; 
Camillo,  525;  Rinaldo,  523, 
525i  527,  528,  537)  5  Manteg- 
na,  school  of,  539;  Mantoa- 
nello,  531;  Maria  Teresa, 
523;  Orefici,  Degli,  532;  Pag- 
ni,  Ben.,  523,  527,  528;  Por- 
tico, entrance, — 525  ;  Primatic- 
cio,  523.  531,  532,  534,  538; 
renovation  of,  523,  538;  Ro- 
mano, Giulio,  520-523,  526- 
540;  Sala:  (dei  Cavalli,  526- 
7;  di  Psyche,  527-530;  delle 
Medaglie,  531;  di  Fetonte, 
531-2;  degli  Stucchi,  534;  di 
Cesare,  534-5;  dei  Giganti, 
535-7);  sculptures  of,  454; 
Scultori,  523,  531,  534;  Sigis- 
mund,  Emp.,  entry  of,  534; 
spoliation  of  the  Palace,  523, 
532,  538-9. 

Tebaldo,       Count:      406,      446, 

544- 
Terracotta,    chefs    d'ceuvres    of: 
101,  201-2,  215-217,  218,  258- 
260,   277-8,   312-3,   315-6,   319- 


320,   386-7,   389,   391-392,   440, 
445,  457- 
Theodolinda,   Queen:  82,   88-89, 

90-91,  .95,  97- 
Theodoric     the     Great:     81-82, 

224-5,  273. 
Tiberius,   Emp.:  222. 
Tibaldi,   Pellegrino:  137. 
Ticino  river:  no,  in,  171. 
Ticino  Canal,  and  power-plant: 

Ticinum, — see  Pavia. 

Tiepolo,  G.  B.:  50,  55. 

Tintoretto:  423. 

Tiziano  (Titian)  :  14,  302,  416, 
421,  423-4,  489,  503,  544. 

Torbido,  Fran.:  439. 

Torre,  Delia:  (family  of  the,  5, 
284;  Martino,  284). 

Torre  Pallavicina:  322. 

Tradate:  133. 

Tramways  and  cars,  of  the  Mi- 
lanese: 102. 

Treasure,  royal,  of  the  Lom- 
bards,— see  under  Monza. 

Trescorre:  61,  69. 

Trezzo,  Castle  of:  74-76. 

Trisseno,  Giangiorgio:  506. 

Triumvirate,  the  Second:  325, 
405-6. 

Trivulzio:  (family  of  the,  288; 
Christina,  288-9). 

Troso  da  Monza :  84,  90. 

Trotti,  Cav., — see  Malosso. 


U 


Ubbriachi,  Bernardo  degli:  209. 
Udine,  Giovanni  da:  538,  539. 
Umberto  I,  King:  106. 
Usmate:  76,  80,  117. 


Vairone,  Biagio:  210-211. 
Valtellina:  2. 
Van  Orleys:  379. 
Vaprio,  Agostino  da:  276. 


INDEX 


589 


Varesotto, — the  tableland  of  Va- 
rese:  132-133,  143,  149-150. 

Varese,  Lake  of:   141-142;    170- 
171. 

Varese,  Battle  of:  136,  170. 

Varese,  city  of: 

Aspect  and  location  of,  111, 
133-4;  Baptistery,  the,  138-9; 
Casino  of,  142;  Corte,  II,  140- 
141;  electric  power  of,  171; 
environs  of,  141-2,  143-8,  170- 
171;  Excelsior  Hotel,  grounds 
and  view  from,  142;  excur- 
sions from  V.,  141-2,  143-8, 
170-171 ;  Francis  III,  Duke: 
135,  140;  Garibaldi,  136,  170; 
Gardens,  Public,  140-141 ;  Gi- 
ovenone,  Girolamo,  139;  his- 
tory of  V.,  134-5,  136;  hotels 
of,  134,  142;  Lake  of  V.,  141- 
2,  170-171;  Maria  Teresa, 
Empress,  135;  Monte  dei  Fi- 
ori, — see  under  M;  Monu- 
ment to  Garibaldi  and  the 
Cacciator'i  delle  Alpi,  135-6; 
Municipio,  140-141 ;  Muse- 
um, city — ,  141 ;  Podesta,  Pi- 
azza del,  135-6,  139;  popula- 
tion of  V.,  135;  railways  to, 
112,  133;  Sacromonte, — see 
Monte  dei  Fiori,  under  M ; 
smuggling  of  V.,  the,  134-5; 
Tableland  of  V.,  132-3,  143, 
149-150;  Tibaldi,  Pellegrino, 
137;  tramways  of  V.,  141, 
171;  Villa  Ponti,  170;  Villa 
Litta  Modignani,  170;  S.  Vit- 
tore,  Piazza  and  church  of, 
136-8. 

Velasquez:   68. 

Vellata,  Pietro  di:  210. 

Venegono    Superiore:    112,    133, 
149. 

Venezia,  Bernardo  da:  198,  202, 
250. 

Venusti,  Marcello:  68. 

Vespasiano,    Emp.,    325. 

Vesper-bells:   68-69. 


Viani,  Ant.:  430,  437,  476.   542. 
Vida,     Marco     Girolamo:     340- 

.341,  377.  395- 

Vigevano:  287. 

Vignate,   Giov. :  285. 

Villari,   General:  332. 

Villeggiatura,    life    of:    78-80. 

Vino,  Sebastiano  del:  477. 

Vinci,  Leonardo  da, — see  Leo- 
nardo. 

Viniculture  in  Lombardy, — see 
Lombardy. 

Violin,  discovery  and  develop- 
ment of  the:  339-340. 

Virgil:  404,  405-6,  441-2,  456, 
457,  543-4, — and  see  also  un- 
der Mantua. 

Vistarini,  the:  285. 

Visconti,  the:  (story  of,  5-11; 
Otho,  Archbishop,  5,  6,  284, 
327-8 ;  Matteo,  il  Grande,  6, 
229;  Azzo,  6,  83,  328;  Gio- 
vanni, Archbishop,  7;  Berna- 
bo,  7,  74-75;  Marco,  83;  Ga- 
leazzo,  7,  83,  229,  250-1 ; 
Gian  Galeazzo,  7-9,  75,  189- 
190,  201,  211-213,  215,  229, 
250-251,  257,  410,  470, — and 
his  monument,  211-213;  Fi- 
lippo  Maria,  9-11,  83-84,  195- 
6,  218,  229-230,  285,  310,  329- 
330;  Bianca  (Sforza),  330- 
331,  398-9;  Caterina,  wife  of 
Gian   Galeazzo,  9). 

Vitone,  Ventura:  244. 

Vivarini:  (Bartolomeo,  66;  Lui- 
gi,   276). 

Vizzola,  electric  power-plant 
of:   171. 

Voghera:  287. 

Volpi,  Ambrogio:  209. 

Volta:  221,  246. 


W,  X,  Y,  Z 

Wheat-crops  of  Lombardy:  73- 

74- 


590  INDEX 

Waterways   of  Lombardy:   no-  Zevio,  Stefano  da:  466. 

H2.  Zucchio,   Federico:  247. 

Wenceslaus,  Emp.:  229.  Zurich,   Treaty  of:  428. 
Zavattari,  the  brothers:  90. 


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